<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1_2x-new.png 2x" alt="1" width="37" />&ldquo;Little Tech&rdquo; Split-Tickets the Election
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Courting the crypto vote has reached new heights in this election cycle.
At the Bitcoin Conference earlier this year in Nashville, erstwhile candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged to build a federal Bitcoin reserve of 4 million coins.
And Donald Trump, who once called Bitcoin &ldquo;a scam,&rdquo; carried forward the idea of a strategic national Bitcoin stockpile, promising to make the U.S. the &ldquo;crypto capital of the planet.&rdquo;
Even Kamala Harris &mdash; through surrogates &mdash; has signaled tepid support for &ldquo;digital assets.&rdquo;
This political pivot comes despite crypto's admittedly turbulent history, including price volatility and high-profile scandals like the FTX collapse.
Nevertheless, billionaire Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple Labs, views this election season as a watershed moment&hellip;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />&ldquo;This is the most important election we've had, but I also believe no matter what happens, we're going to have [more] pro-crypto, more pro-innovation&hellip; than we've ever had,&rdquo; Garlinghouse says.
Ripple Labs, a veteran crypto company known for its crypto and &ldquo;native token&rdquo; XRP, has been at the forefront of this political engagement.
The company has made significant donations to pro-crypto PACs and campaigns &mdash; including $45 million to the crypto-centric PAC <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/crypto-playing-politics" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fairshake</a> &mdash; featured heavily in yesterday&rsquo;s 5 Bullets. 
&ldquo;Our contributions to Fairshake are just one of the many ways Ripple will actively invest in educating voters on the role crypto will play in the future and the dangers of the anti-crypto stance some policymakers are clinging to in Washington,&rdquo; says Garlinghouse.
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/4iP4P8VCwoK8WAn6MUeaTM/a8585d1ed2a6e3bbb6c2e9c089a245c1/10.25_Crypto_Fairshake.png" alt="crypto lobbies for a fair shake in dc" />
Garlinghouse continues to express optimism about the post-election landscape &mdash; while not publicly endorsing a candidate himself.
Not so for Fairshake&rsquo;s third largest donors: the VC firm Andreessen Horowitz&hellip;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz appear to be employing a strategy of &ldquo;split-ticketing&rdquo; to hedge their bets on presidential candidates.
Federal Election Commission filings reveal that Andreessen and Horowitz each contributed $2.5 million to a pro-Trump super PAC, a move that shocked Silicon Valley.
&ldquo;At the time, they said they supported Trump&rsquo;s policies as most beneficial to cryptocurrency and startups, a position they called the &lsquo;little tech agenda,&rsquo;&rdquo; Bloomberg reports.
Andreessen himself went on to donate the maximum legal amount to Trump's campaign and the Republican Party. But Horowitz was cagey&hellip;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to have a lot of friends who are probably pissed off at me for saying anything nice about President Trump,&rdquo; Horowitz said in July. &ldquo;For little tech, we think Donald Trump is actually the right choice.&rdquo;
More recently, Bloomberg says: &ldquo;Horowitz in October made another surprising announcement when he informed his firm that he&rsquo;d also be making a &lsquo;significant&rsquo; donation to Vice President Kamala Harris&rsquo; campaign, despite not knowing or endorsing her policies.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s a strategy that the Fairshake PAC believes will guarantee them, well, a fair shake in the Oval Office &mdash; regardless who wins.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />But as Garlinghouse says pointedly: &ldquo;No matter what happens, we're going to leave behind a failed approach from the Biden administration.&rdquo; 
For instance? Because of the current regulatory challenges in the U.S., 95% of Ripple's business occurs overseas. At present, Garlinghouse would advise fintech startups to &ldquo;incorporate outside the United States.&rdquo;
But he&rsquo;s confident in the long-term prospects of crypto here stateside. &ldquo;We're going to see forward progress, and I certainly am looking forward to that.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Anybody who doesn't believe that no matter what, we're going to end up in a better place,&rdquo; Garlinghouse concludes, &ldquo;is not paying attention.&rdquo;
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2_2x-new.png 2x" alt="2" width="37" />The Psychology of Earnings Surprises
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />&ldquo;When companies consistently beat their expected earnings, it helps drive the stock price higher&rdquo; &mdash; not necessarily for the logical reason you assume, according to trading pro, hedge-fund veteran and Paradigm&rsquo;s new team member, Enrique Abeyta.
&ldquo;The positive outcome makes you feel better physically,&rdquo; Enrique says, citing basic human physiology. &ldquo;When this happens, you will likely buy more of the stock,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;This buying enthusiasm is what helps power stocks higher.
&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s look at the earnings report for the past few years from the market&rsquo;s biggest winner, Nvidia Corp. (NVDA)... 
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/10kNUxfmbePcAj1ApsusuM/e190da83166ff30ce4437b3efa64195c/nvidia.png" alt="NVDA" />
&ldquo;The column labeled &lsquo;%Surp&rsquo; (outlined in red) is how the company has performed relative to investor expectations for earnings per share (EPS).
&ldquo;You can see that NVDA has recently been crushing expectations,&rdquo; Enrique adds. &ldquo;This has driven positive daily performance in the stock, which you can see in the next column titled &lsquo;%Px Chg.&rsquo;
&ldquo;Not only has the company been beating numbers nicely, but it has also been doing so consistently.
&ldquo;NVDA missed only one quarter in the last five years&hellip;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />&ldquo;These positive surprises &mdash; beating by a lot and consistently &mdash; create buying enthusiasm and higher stock prices,&rdquo; says Enrique.
Earlier this week, he continues, &ldquo;I spoke about the power of earnings growth to drive share prices higher. And it&rsquo;s true that earnings growth is <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/what-really-matters-this-earnings-season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the most important single metric</a> to push a stock higher.
&ldquo;But if you can combine that with positive reporting surprises, you create a positive feedback loop that can create explosive returns!
&ldquo;So if you&rsquo;re looking to profit from emotional stock swings this earnings season, start by finding companies that consistently surprise,&rdquo; Enrique says.
&ldquo;There are other names in the semiconductor space that are also promising,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) reports on Tuesday ahead of the other big chipmakers.
&ldquo;If the company and the rest of the semis provide positive surprises, they&rsquo;ll likely continue higher in short order.&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Taking a look at the market today, the Nasdaq Composite Index has now exceeded its record-high close in July. 
At the time of writing, the tech-heavy index is up 1.35% to 18,665. Simultaneously, the S&amp;P 500 and the staid Dow are both in the green &mdash; up 0.75% (5,850) and 0.20% (42,455) respectively.
As for commodities, the price of oil has edged up 1% or just under $71 for a barrel of WTI. Precious metals? Gold is slightly in the green at $2,751.30 per ounce. But the lid&rsquo;s off silver today, up 0.80% and over $34.
Checking on crypto: Bitcoin is up 0.50% to $68,450 while Ethereum&rsquo;s up 0.75% to $2,550
The only major economic number to report comes from the U.S. Census Bureau. And for the second month in a row, orders for durable goods &mdash; anything designed to last longer than three years &mdash; were down 0.8% in September. That&rsquo;s only slightly better compared with Wall Street&rsquo;s expectations for a 1% drop.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3_2x-new.png 2x" alt="3" width="37" />A New-ish Frontier in Nuclear Energy
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />&ldquo;I wonder if anyone is looking at using thorium instead of uranium?&rdquo; a reader asked last week after we spotlighted <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/rickards-and-altucher-agree-on-this-prediction/#2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google&rsquo;s nuclear foray</a> &mdash; namely, adopting energy produced by small nuclear reactors (SMRs) sometime before the end of this decade.
Small modular reactors (SMRs) represent a new generation of nuclear technology. These compact reactors are designed for factory assembly, and can be transported to their operational sites, offering flexibility in deployment.
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/3Fdeb5llNFzS6JQEQpHQ74/7f27c7b40794511636a3a249c017b249/atomic_energy.png" alt="reactors" />
Source: International Atomic Energy Agency Compare and contrast&hellip; 
While several SMR designs exist, they employ various cooling methods. For instance, some utilize traditional light water as a coolant, while others explore alternative options such as gas, liquid metal or molten salt. This diversity in design reflects ongoing innovation in the field of nuclear energy.
But getting back to our reader&rsquo;s question about thorium, we reached out to Paradigm&rsquo;s expert geologist &mdash; and retired Navy officer &mdash; Byron King.
&ldquo;The old U.S. Atomic Energy Commission pursued thorium ideas into the 1960s and early 1970s,&rdquo; he says.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />&ldquo;Thorium never gained traction against uranium,basically because Navy nuclear drove the research, development and engineering,&rdquo; says Byron. &ldquo;[Adm. Hyman] Rickover wanted his submarines, and thorium would not work in those long steel tubes.
&ldquo;Right now,&rdquo; Byron adds, &ldquo;China, India and Russia have aggressive (i.e., state-funded) thorium programs. The U.S. has whatever the junior companies can raise money to accomplish, which is small-scale.
&ldquo;The U.S. nuclear industry will build what it knows how to build because that's what it can sell to investors and public utility commissions &mdash; meaning light-water reactors of traditional design, scale, etc.
&ldquo;As for small nuclear reactors, that tech is sort of out there, but NOT perfected. Nothing available to manufacture at scale.
&ldquo;The DOD is driving [this trend] though: Place a 40-foot container with SMR on a military base, and mitigate risk from the grid going down,&rdquo; Byron forecasts.
So while thorium-based small modular reactors (SMRs) are not yet in commercial operation, there&rsquo;s significant research and development underway.
[Of all things: British luxury-car company Rolls-Royce has reportedly developed a thorium-based SMR for the commercial shipping industry. Huh.]
As Byron concludes: &ldquo;The nuclear tech of the next five&ndash;10 years is already out there. But considering the time [to] design, permit, engineer, build, test, commence ops &mdash; 10 years is blazingly fast.&rdquo;
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4_2x-new.png 2x" alt="4" width="37" />Questionable Brand Tricks
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />For a limited time, Goldfish crackers will be changing its name&hellip; to Chilean Sea Bass crackers? 
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/21pu8YlqSvY8UQQCY6YN9u/89f467e2aa847fb7c51df4b206300278/goldfish_meme.png" alt="goldfish" />
Photo Courtesy: Pepperidge Farm Inc.
&ldquo;Chilean Sea Bass is a playful nod to adults that the iconic fish-shaped snack is for grown-up tastes too,&rdquo; says vice president of Goldfish, Danielle Brown.
To be clear, the cracker&rsquo;s flavor profile is not that of Chilean sea bass (gross). But new flavors will drop, online only, every day through Oct. 30 at a very specific 9 a.m. EST.
But the only flavor we could give the thumbs-up to is the Goldfish Elf Maple Syrup Grahams. Sounds yummy (she says like a 3-year-old)...
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5_2x-new.png 2x" alt="5" width="37" />Mailbag: From Japan, With Love
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />&ldquo;Thanks for the informative newsletters,&rdquo; a first-time contributor writes.
&ldquo;I find Paradigm Press to be one of the few outlets that provide sensible, candid and no-BS-with-a-dash-of-humor reporting, which is becoming a luxury with the ultra-left MSM.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m actually from Japan, and <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/silver-squeeze-2024/#5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bullet No. 5</a> in this week&rsquo;s 5 Bullets really cracked me up. I was not expecting the smartphone blanket from Nitori to be picked up by you guys &mdash; as your newsletters are all about macroeconomic trends/analysis.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I certainly think it&rsquo;s a good idea to share a bit of interesting news from around the world.
&ldquo;I truly appreciate the quality of your articles, although the volume of emails/offer letters is a bit too much. I hope you find a happy middle ground based on feedback from readers.&rdquo;
Emily: Our new contributor is onto us&hellip;
Part of the 5 Bullets regular formula is to scare up quirky, offbeat items (see Goldfish above) for your amusement. Because who doesn't appreciate a good laugh now and then?
As for finding a &ldquo;happy middle ground,&rdquo; your input matters! As Dave mentioned earlier this week, we're excited about improvements coming your way, including reducing the number of emails you receive and offering transcripts for all sales presentations.
While we&rsquo;ll always have products to offer, as publisher Matt Insley admonished in a Paradigm-wide email Thursday morning&hellip;
&ldquo;Don't forget about our boss: the reader. Don't forget about our mission: publishing well-thought-out ideas that we're proud of.&rdquo;
With the ultimate outcome being that you, reader, &ldquo;are better off for it.&rdquo;

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Paradigm Pressroom's 5 Bullets

Courting the crypto vote has reached new heights in this election cycle.

Little Tech’s Election Power Play

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This campaign ad looks like most other campaign ads, but the outfit behind the ad is pursuing an agenda that has nothing to do with either political party. 

Crypto Playing Politics

anw-hero-img-09-27-24 brics countries currency and gold bars concept photo

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Even if the BRICS nations don’t announce a new currency with partial gold backing this week… they’ll light a fire under the gold price nonetheless. 

Gold’s Next Catalyst: Happening Now

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1_2x-new.png 2x" alt="1" width="37" />Bezos Makes His Peace With Trump
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Three days ago, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos sent a subtle but unmistakable signal to his fellow billionaires: Life will go on even if Donald Trump wins another term.
Not that it was reported that way anywhere: The news was that The Washington Post editorial board won&rsquo;t endorse a presidential candidate this year.
By most accounts, the orders came straight from Bezos, who bought the Post from the Graham family in 2013.
Perhaps you didn&rsquo;t even hear about it. After all, no one outside America&rsquo;s center-left intelligentsia cares about newspaper endorsements of candidates anymore.
But inside America&rsquo;s center-left intelligentsia, the meltdown was epic&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/3uZU6JF9z7Nge0FTB2Y6vL/c005343f3fb2c395c2410bf917b34c55/BezosTweets.png" alt="Tweets about Bezos" />
To be sure, Bezos&rsquo; gambit is intriguing. The Post endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016. When she lost, the paper flamboyantly took on the mission of undermining Trump.
It adopted the pretentious slogan &ldquo;Democracy Dies in Darkness.&rdquo; Along with The New York Times, it relentlessly peddled the narrative that Trump was somehow &ldquo;colluding&rdquo; with the government of Russia &mdash; a narrative for which even Special Counsel Robert Mueller found no supporting evidence. Bezos&rsquo; rag then endorsed Joe Biden in 2020.
Our favorite political reporter Michael Tracey sees which way the winds are blowing now&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/21yQTaJHDsKh9LxupruoSE/9b0fee31fe9e67136c75755d97243319/tracey_tweet.png" alt="Michael Tracey Tweets" />
And Bezos is hardly alone&hellip;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />The first clue that the power elite was making its peace with Trump came early this year at the World Economic Forum&rsquo;s annual shindig in Davos, Switzerland.
We chronicled it at the time: Blackstone Group founder Stephen Schwarzman signaled lukewarm support for Trump at a time Trump still had competition for the Republican nomination.
But the real bombshell came from JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon &mdash; veteran Democratic donor, once rumored a top candidate for Barack Obama&rsquo;s Treasury secretary.
&ldquo;Take a step back, be honest,&rdquo; he told CNBC at Davos. &ldquo;He was kind of right about NATO, kind of right on immigration. He grew the economy quite well. Trade tax reform worked. He was right about some of China.&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />We can&rsquo;t underscore the contrast strongly enough compared with eight years ago.
As we&rsquo;ve chronicled before, there was almost no billionaire support for Donald Trump in 2016. The Wall Street Journal reported that nine of the 10 biggest donors gave to Hillary Clinton. (Home Depot&rsquo;s Bernie Marcus was the 10th.) Among donations of $1 million or more, Clinton collected $180 million, compared with Trump&rsquo;s $33 million.
Eight years later, Trump&rsquo;s elite backers include Elon Musk&hellip; the venture capitalist Marc Andreessen&hellip; and hedge fund operators Bill Ackman and Paul Singer. Andreessen was a Clinton supporter eight years ago. Ackman, too, has a history of backing Democrats and he supported Nikki Haley in the 2024 GOP primaries. Eight years ago, Singer was a Never-Trump Republican.
The landscape has shifted: Musk and Ackman on the Trump train.
Bill Gates and Steve Jobs&rsquo; widow Laurene Powell Jobs backing Harris, either openly or quietly.
While Bezos and Jamie Dimon bide their time and hedge their bets&hellip;
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2_2x-new.png 2x" alt="2" width="37" />The &ldquo;Whoosh&rdquo; in Oil
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />The price of oil has cratered 5.7% this morning because Iran&rsquo;s oil production and distribution is still up and running.
The first clue that Israel was about to carry out long-awaited airstrikes against Iran came on Friday afternoon &mdash; when U.S. aircraft began scrambling from Europe toward the Middle East&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/3qjM5DOw33AYgGr3BOM9Np/e63a6f7f779706b35c746bb9b69e5b40/dana916_tweet.png" alt="dana916 tweet" />
It&rsquo;s become so predictable in recent years &mdash; major U.S. military action coming after U.S. markets close on Friday afternoon. On Friday Feb. 2 this year, U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and Syria came the moment the market closed at 4:00 p.m. Eastern.
In this instance, the Israeli military waited a few hours after Friday&rsquo;s close&hellip; and by most accounts U.S. forces had no direct involvement. According to Israel&rsquo;s Army Radio outlet, the U.S. jets were on standby to rescue Israeli pilots if need be.
The mainstream spin is that the attack succeeded in its objectives. &ldquo;The Israeli strikes on Iran hit several of Tehran&rsquo;s most advanced air defenses,&rdquo; says this morning&rsquo;s Wall Street Journal, &ldquo;exposing Iran&rsquo;s vulnerability to future attacks.&rdquo;
Gee, if it was such a smashing success, why are Israeli media reporting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is about to give Defense Minister Yoav Gallant the heave-ho?
It&rsquo;s all &ldquo;fog of war&rdquo; for the time being, but informed skeptics speculate that Israeli pilots encountered something unexpected on their way toward Iranian airspace and turned back. Whatever damage occurred was inflicted by missiles and drones.
&ldquo;This attack was extremely underwhelming,&rdquo; says the Armchair Warlord account on X &mdash; &ldquo;particularly given that the Israeli military has announced that (1) this was in fact the big retaliatory stroke; and (2) they&rsquo;ve finished the operation.&rdquo;
In any event, Iran&rsquo;s nuclear-power and oil-industry infrastructure remains intact this morning. With that, a barrel of West Texas intermediate trades for $67.68 &mdash; the lowest in four weeks.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3_2x-new.png 2x" alt="3" width="37" />It&rsquo;s Mag 7 Week
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />As Tesla goes, so goes the rest of the Magnificent 7?
Five of the seven Big Tech-adjacent companies report their numbers this week&hellip;
<ul>
<li>Alphabet (GOOG) after the close tomorrow</li>
<li>Meta (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) after the close Wednesday</li>
<li>Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) after the close Thursday.</li>
</ul>
The broad stock market as measured by the S&amp;P 500 has been moving sideways the last couple of weeks.
Given that the Mag 7 makes up 30% of the index&rsquo;s market cap&hellip; this week will prove decisive for the market&rsquo;s direction beyond October.
As we mentioned last week, Tesla was the first of the Mag 7 companies to report &mdash; and its upside surprise was so huge that TSLA posted a one-day gain of 22%, the biggest in over a decade.
&ldquo;Did TSLA just give us a preview of the big beats we&rsquo;re about to witness?&rdquo; wonders Paradigm chart hound Greg Guenthner.
He&rsquo;s keeping a close eye on a chart of the Roundhill Magnificent 7 ETF (MAGS) &mdash; which, as you might deduce, consists of nothing but the Mag 7 names.
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/1g8tHWTxBoCXcELoPiF3K1/33cdc9f497fd1de6500b722cf2c069c7/mag7_chart.png" alt="Mag 7 Chart" />
On the heels of Tesla&rsquo;s report, &ldquo;many of these other mega-caps are looking coiled and ready for action,&rdquo; says Greg. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll see if they deliver.&rdquo;
(In case you&rsquo;re wondering, the last and most buzzy of the Mag 7 names &mdash; Nvidia &mdash; doesn&rsquo;t report its numbers till the second half of November.)
After a string of earnings reports like these&hellip; Friday&rsquo;s release of the October job numbers could prove anticlimactic.
Also this week we get the Commerce Department&rsquo;s first read on third-quarter GDP Wednesday and the Federal Reserve&rsquo;s preferred inflation measure on Thursday.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />In the meantime, the major U.S. stock indexes are starting the new week in the green.
The S&amp;P 500 is registering the weakest gain &mdash; up about a half percent to 5,835 at last check. The Nasdaq&rsquo;s gain is stronger and the Dow&rsquo;s the strongest.
Gold is inching down to $2,741; silver is creeping higher at $33.81. Bitcoin is knocking on the door of $69,000 after a failed breakout above that level a week ago today.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4_2x-new.png 2x" alt="4" width="37" />The &ldquo;Data Disconnect&rdquo; Is Baaaack
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Oh no, not this again: &ldquo;A widespread, self-reported sense of financial strain suggests Americans think their financial lives are more precarious than economic data appears to indicate,&rdquo; reports the Axios news site.
According to a survey by Bank of America, nearly half of U.S. households report living paycheck to paycheck. But a separate analysis of customer behavior by Bank of America Institute finds that &ldquo;the share who are genuinely spending nearly all the income they take in on essentials is lower than survey data suggests,&rdquo; says Axios.
The discrepancy appears to hinge on how people define &ldquo;essentials.&rdquo; We&rsquo;ll spare you the details. If you&rsquo;re really interested, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/10/23/us-paycheck-economy-financial-strain-reality-gap" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have at it</a>.
Anyway, it&rsquo;s the latest entry in a long list of articles that implicitly chide everyday Americans for feeling economically strapped even though many statistical measures of the economy are superficially healthy.
The first we noticed was way back in March 2022, and a tweet from MSNBC: &ldquo;President Biden&rsquo;s approval rating has fallen to lowest level of his presidency despite booming economy.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s become so tired and predictable by now, it&rsquo;s the stuff of memes&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/6q4wU1ZNt7ewdDTtegfCpe/044e7e81559f371706b284754dc76ad9/axios_meme.jpg" alt="Axios Meme" />
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5_2x-new.png 2x" alt="5" width="37" />&ldquo;Intellectually Lazy and a Coward&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />To the mailbag, where the <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/golds-next-catalyst-happening-now#5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">withering criticism</a> by Trump supporters targeting third-party voters (or write-in voters or nonvoters) was too much for one of our semi-regulars&hellip; 
&ldquo;Sadly I write this to you. I have just learned that I am apparently intellectually lazy and a coward because I refuse to vote for either of the candidates that the two major parties have blessed us with.
&ldquo;I think I began suffering these maladies living through the four years of our previous president. You know, the guy who would lash out at numerous people HE brought into his administration and then drove out and totally belittled. The guy who told us how tariffs wouldn't cost us minions anything. You know, the narcissist guy. (Wonder when he will turn on RFK and Tulsi?)
&ldquo;I believe that the other cause of my malady may be caused by this most recent replacement candidate. I don't remember her participating in the primaries. You know the one that tells us how bad that other guy is and tells us that we need the government to protect us from the evil corporations that are price gouging. She's that assistant in the current administration that just finished adding $1.8 trillion to the country's $35-plus trillion debt.
&ldquo;On a somewhat positive note, I have heard of a possible cure&hellip; a candidate that would stop our meddling in other countries&rsquo; affairs. A candidate that would actually cut spending and balance the budget. It sounds promising &mdash; however, I am not too hopeful.
&ldquo;I am feeling a little weak right now, so I better get some rest the next two&ndash;three weeks. Appreciate your help and understanding. Thanks Dave.&rdquo;
Dave responds: Who is this non-meddling, budget-balancing candidate of which you speak?
Which reminds me: Back in 2008, after the GOP establishment sandbagged Ron Paul&rsquo;s candidacy (the first time)... Paul accomplished the extraordinary feat of getting four minor-party presidential candidates to agree on four platform planks including an end to the Iraq War, cutting the national debt and auditing the Federal Reserve.
He got everyone from Ralph Nader to one-time Moral Majority bigwig Chuck Baldwin to agree to these things.
It was an extraordinary moment. Alas, it took place less than a week before the collapse of Lehman Bros., followed by a series of bailouts that blew up the national debt by (what was then) an unprecedented degree.
We give the last word today to the meme-o-sphere &mdash; where Mr. Older Coffee-Cup Stock Photo Guy is weighing in&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/7t0yzd0HQyqUaGhnUZkhCB/bd2a4fe6d0808839a0cb9947644f7761/harold_meme.jpg" alt="Harold Meme" />

shutterstock 1399561367 (1)

Three days ago, Jeff Bezos sent a subtle but unmistakable signal to his fellow billionaires: Life will go on even if Donald Trump wins another term.

Bezos Accepts Trump

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1_2x-new.png 2x" alt="1" width="37" />Silver: Bad News (Maybe), Good News (Definitely)
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />It seems &ldquo;silver squeeze&rdquo; is a thing on social media this week.
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/2GE8QHVJrGUiFRmPt4Qyb6/fea04a1324243c86de1cb10161a1f221/liberty_lady_tweet.png" alt="lady liberty tweet" />
Understandable, given the enormous jump on Friday from $32 an ounce to nearly $34. Today it&rsquo;s up to $34.55.
No doubt there are short sellers out there &mdash; betting on lower silver prices. And as the price rises, some of them will be squeezed &mdash; forced to cover their shorts, thus pushing the price still higher.
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/Mjxr55mqcEo7JTK6ccbcy/f8a77a9cc0051b40660cea0d9dc4581f/SilverDemandMeme.png" alt="Silver Demand Meme" />
That number is somewhat overstated, according to one observer &mdash; but it&rsquo;s still astonishing.
&ldquo;The risk of an explosive silver short squeeze is further amplified by the astonishing ratio of 408 ounces of &lsquo;paper&rsquo; silver &mdash; ETFs, futures and other derivatives &mdash; for every single ounce of physical silver,&rdquo; writes Jesse Colombo at his Substack page.
&ldquo;In a violent short squeeze, holders of &lsquo;paper&rsquo; silver could be forced to scramble for the extremely scarce physical silver to fulfill their contractual obligations. This would cause the price of &lsquo;paper&rsquo; silver products to collapse, while physical silver prices would skyrocket to jaw-dropping levels, potentially reaching several hundred dollars per ounce&hellip;&rdquo;
Colombo&rsquo;s piece was picked up by ZeroHedge. It&rsquo;s not getting as many pageviews as election-related content&hellip; but is still impressive.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Of course, this isn&rsquo;t the first time there&rsquo;s been talk of a silver squeeze.
Remember the start of the &ldquo;meme stock&rdquo; craze in early 2021 &mdash; young people piling into dogmeat stocks like GameStop and AMC? They were doing so in part to punish the Wall Street pros who were shorting those stocks.
There was a brief abortive movement to squeeze the silver shorts then, too. The price jumped from under $25 to just over $30 in the space of a few days &mdash; and then it was over. Two months later, it was back below $25.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />If silver is going to take off, there will have to be reasons other than a short squeeze. Fortunately, there are plenty.
Over time, we&rsquo;ve described the fabulous supply-demand factors at work. We&rsquo;ll briefly recap here.
On the demand side, silver has emerged as a major component in the current designs of solar panels. By one estimate, solar accounts for 35% of total silver demand.
On the supply side, the silver price has been so beaten down for so long that the industry just hasn&rsquo;t invested in new production. Why bother, right?
Result: Silver demand has outstripped supply for the last four years.
All of these facts were fodder for cocktail-party chatter last week at the London Bullion Market Association&rsquo;s annual conference in Miami. &ldquo;I have never seen a better outlook for silver,&rdquo; said Michael Krebs, CEO at Coeur Mining.
That&rsquo;s saying something &mdash; Krebs got his start at Coeur nearly 30 years ago. He&rsquo;s seen it all, including the frenzy that drove silver to $50 in 2011.
Among the conference attendees, the consensus was that silver is poised to deliver better performance than gold or platinum or palladium during the next year &mdash; reaching $45 an ounce.
Longer term, we have every reason to expect even more. As Paradigm commodities guru Alan Knuckman is fond of reminding us, $50 silver in 2011 adjusted for inflation would be $70 silver now.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2_2x-new.png 2x" alt="2" width="37" />But Don&rsquo;t Overlook Gold&hellip;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Here&rsquo;s an overlooked factor helping to drive gold to record levels &mdash; the Federal Reserve&rsquo;s interest rate cuts.
&ldquo;Gold has been hitting new highs as investors adjust for today&rsquo;s era of lower interest rates and look for ways to manage risk,&rdquo; says Paradigm&rsquo;s income-investing pro Zach Scheidt. &ldquo;Lower interest rates tend to put pressure on the economic value of the U.S. dollar.&rdquo;
Of course, there are all the other factors we cite more often. &ldquo;Uncertainty surrounding the election, the federal deficit (and ballooning debt level), geopolitical tension and economic challenges are weighing on investors&rsquo; minds,&rdquo; Zach adds.
Last week we mentioned how the gold rally of 2022&ndash;24 <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/this-is-no-ordinary-gold-rally" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has been a strange one</a> &mdash; driven mostly by central bank buying. Both wealthy investors and mom-and-pops were selling gold the whole time.
That changed starting in May &mdash; when money finally started flowing back into the precious metals ETFs like GLD.
And that flow is just beginning. &ldquo;One thing to keep in mind is that traditional money managers still have a very small allocation to precious metals,&rdquo; Zach says. They are advising America&rsquo;s wealthiest investors to keep money in more speculative areas of the market.
&ldquo;This is important because as these money managers slowly start allocating more to precious metals, their buy orders could have a profound effect on the price of gold.&rdquo;
In the near term, Zach remains confident that gold can hit $3,000 at year-end &mdash; a number that seemed audacious when he made his $3k gold forecast at the start of the year and the Midas metal was barely $2K.
All that said, gold is &ldquo;due for a break soon, whether that means a pullback or some sideways consolidation,&rdquo; says Paradigm chart hound Greg Guenthner. &ldquo;The cat&rsquo;s out of the bag! Everyone and their third cousin is now hip to gold&rsquo;s explosive potential.&rdquo; (More from Greg below&hellip;)
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />For the moment, however, gold is reaching higher into record territory &mdash; the bid up nearly $19 to $2,737. 
We noted silver&rsquo;s jump earlier &mdash; to levels last seen when it was climbing down from the 2011 high of $50.
The major U.S. stock indexes continue to take a breather, the S&amp;P 500 down a quarter percent to 5,839.
Always in search of &ldquo;reasons&rdquo; for every little move in the stock market, the media has settled on &ldquo;rising rates weighing on sentiment&rdquo; (CNBC). Sure, why not? The yield on a 10-year Treasury note is up to 4.21%, another three-month high. Mortgage rates are also the highest since July.
All else being equal, longer-term rates should be falling in sympathy with the Fed cutting shorter-term rates. But we can&rsquo;t say it often enough &mdash; the most dangerous word in all of investing is &ldquo;should.&rdquo;
What does the bond market know that the stock market hasn&rsquo;t figured out yet? We&rsquo;ll know in the fullness of time&hellip;
Crude is powering higher for no obvious reason &mdash; up $1.84 at last check to $72.40. Here it seems the media has settled on &ldquo;renewed optimism over Chinese demand&rdquo; (OilPrice.com). And with that, oil is back above its 50-day moving average.
No news of significance from the BRICS summit in Russia yet &mdash; Chinese president Xi Jinping arrived only a few hours ago. But we&rsquo;re keeping tabs&hellip;
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3_2x-new.png 2x" alt="3" width="37" />Copper Coiled&hellip;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Let&rsquo;s not overlook copper. It&rsquo;s not a precious metal, but the profit opportunities are there nonetheless.
Last spring, copper was setting new highs. &ldquo;At the time, copper was successfully holding its $5 breakout and industry pure plays were exhibiting impressive momentum,&rdquo; recalls Paradigm trading pro Greg Guenthner. &ldquo;Southern Copper Corp. (SCCO) was tagging new highs to begin the second quarter and had already racked up year-to-date gains of 25%.
&ldquo;Copper failed to hold above its 2021&ndash;2022 highs and quickly lost that magical $5 level. Instead of consolidating its multiweek rally, everything began to fall apart. It was a rough summer to be a copper bull. By mid-August, the metal had coughed up all of its earlier gains, dropping more than 20% from its peak.&rdquo;
That was then, this is now: Greg annotates a chart of copper to illustrate how the red metal is repairing the damage from a &ldquo;false start&rdquo; breakout&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/1AtKGyD5EtA36W6yTcES6t/a3cbd44a6080e110cd82c900d7329969/CopperFutures.png" alt="copper futures" />
&ldquo;Copper bottomed out in August and has since clawed its way back from the dead,&rdquo; says Greg &ldquo;Yes, it still has work to do. And we&rsquo;ve had to deal with some choppier action lately due to the will-they-or-won&rsquo;t-they stimulus plans out of China that have rattled the markets.&rdquo;
Today the will-they trade has pushed copper to $4.29. &ldquo;Copper futures could find legs again on a breakout above $4.75,&rdquo; Greg tells us, &ldquo;which would probably set up another $5 test. Plus, industry bellwether SCCO continues to look constructive at these levels.&rdquo;
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4_2x-new.png 2x" alt="4" width="37" />The Musk Investigations, Illustrated
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Who says The New York Times isn&rsquo;t good for anything?
We&rsquo;ve previously chronicled some of the tangles that government contractor Elon Musk is having with one or another government agency. In August of last year, we took note of the <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/elon-musk-cant-win" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bizarre circumstance</a> under which the Justice Department was going after SpaceX for its compliance with government arms-trafficking laws.
As I <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/elon-musk-just-caved" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> later that week, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to shake the thought that there&rsquo;s an orchestrated campaign to go after Musk on a variety of fronts and find something that sticks.&rdquo;
But don&rsquo;t take it from me. Take it from the NYT&rsquo;s graphics department&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/3ZNKNaVGXV5TAHjW6Nt1xO/0b4befd61ddbb2dc8de44e0c63394694/Musk_Investigation.png" alt="musk investigations" />
<a id="5"></a>&ldquo;His companies have been targeted in at least 20 recent investigations or reviews,&rdquo; the paper reports, &ldquo;including over the safety of his Tesla cars and the environmental damage caused by his rockets.&rdquo;
Now we know&hellip;
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5_2x-new.png 2x" alt="5" width="37" />From Japan, the &ldquo;Smartphone Blanket&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />We know some people look upon their smartphones as a kind of security blanket. But..
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/5YIjxOmZCquizuAv8S4Ilb/c59a205fe0501213dcba5628c0dddd76/JapanBlanket.png" alt="smartphone blanket" />
[As advertised by Japan&rsquo;s largest furniture and home accessories chain&hellip;]
The Japanese furniture and home-goods giant Nitori is advertising a &ldquo;Smartphone Blanket.&rdquo;
According to the SoraNews24 site, &ldquo;This blanket is so comfortable it&rsquo;s been dubbed the &lsquo;blanket that ruins people&rsquo; because once you&rsquo;re in it, you won&rsquo;t want to go anywhere or do anything other than stare at your phone.
&ldquo;While it first made its debut in Japan last year as a wearable blanket without sleeves, it became so popular that it quickly sold out and was impossible to get during the depths of winter. This year, the chain has updated the blanket with new design features that make it even warmer and more comfortable than before.&rdquo;
The base model runs 3,990 yen &mdash; $26.42 at today&rsquo;s exchange rate. This year, you can also get a version with sleeves.
To be clear, you don&rsquo;t have to have a smartphone with you to enjoy the blanket. The marketing photos include a woman reading a magazine, for instance.
But clearly Nitori knows its market, so &ldquo;Smartphone Blanket&rdquo; it is.
Also, the notion of &ldquo;ruining people&rdquo; with the ultimate in comfort appears to be a thing in Japan. In our voluminous archives, we find an item from early 2023 about the Wearable Beanbag &mdash;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/46fde799R3NL4UvcNNCyzi/8421b7928b82c429515983f247311c46/JapanBlanket2.png" alt="beanbag" />
As SoraNews24 described it, &ldquo;designers seek to provide customers with comfort levels so supreme they won&rsquo;t ever want to move, leading to their ultimate ruin.&rdquo;
I dunno &mdash; maybe something&rsquo;s lost in translation?

shutterstock 2076061723

It seems “silver squeeze” is a thing on social media this week… 

Silver Squeeze 2024

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1_2x-new.png 2x" alt="1" width="37" /> Tuning Out the Earnings-Season Noise
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;Earnings season is the most interesting time of year. It brings out the best and the worst in the markets,&rdquo; says Enrique Abeyta &mdash; hedge fund veteran and the newest member of the Paradigm Press team.
&ldquo;On the worst side, you see heightened volatility in many stocks. The vast majority of the time, this volatility results from &lsquo;noise&rsquo; especially to the downside.
&ldquo;Very often, when stocks get hit hard on earnings, it is not because of a major change in the fundamentals. Rather, it results from a small miss on a particular metric.&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> The media love to fixate on a company missing the vaunted Wall Street analyst estimates by a penny or two. 
&ldquo;This,&rdquo; says Enrique, &ldquo;is why you see such big moves on very little change in a stock&rsquo;s fundamentals: negative media coverage. Once you understand this, you can find moneymaking opportunities heavily skewed in your favor.&rdquo;
With all the big banks having reported their numbers in recent days, we&rsquo;re now headed into the &ldquo;meat&rdquo; of earnings season &mdash; dozens of S&amp;P 500 companies will weigh in starting tomorrow.
On Wednesday, Tesla will report &mdash; the first of the &ldquo;Magnificent 7&rdquo; companies to do so. Five more of the Mag 7 will follow next week.
As the Mag 7 goes, so goes the market: &ldquo;These companies make up more than 31% of the market capitalization of the S&amp;P 500,&rdquo; Enrique reminds us.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> What to expect? &ldquo;Recent results are the best predictor of what will happen next with companies,&rdquo; he goes on &mdash; especially huge ones with massive competitive moats like these companies.
Enrique pored over recent reports for all seven of these companies. His conclusion: &ldquo;There is a reason these names have powered the stock market higher.
&ldquo;Other than TSLA, these companies have been consistently beating numbers and seen positive earnings revisions. A few of them &mdash; NVDA and META &mdash; have absolutely blown away the numbers. As a group they have seen strong positive earnings revisions.
&ldquo;My experience over three decades as a professional investor is that large companies with long and consistent track records of beating numbers will continue to beat numbers.&rdquo;
And if the Mag 7 continue to beat numbers, that bodes well for the rest of the S&amp;P 500.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2_2x-new.png 2x" alt="2" width="37" />What Really Matters During Earnings Season
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Here&rsquo;s something that will prove even more valuable over time as we head into the thick of earnings season: &ldquo;What if I told you,&rdquo; says Enrique, &ldquo;there was only one single metric you need to know to trade stocks?&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s true. He learned the hard way, slogging through dozens of useless ones for the better part of two decades. At the end of that process, he discovered only one data point really matters.
And no, it&rsquo;s not the price-earnings ratio. Indeed, he says valuation has nothing to do with it.
&ldquo;Not once in the stock market's history has a stock gone up just because it was &lsquo;cheap,&rsquo;&rdquo; says Enrique.
The real key is earnings growth.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;Even Warren Buffett, the greatest value investor of all time, understands this,&rdquo; Enrique adds &mdash; drawing on the example of a famous Buffett stock, Coca-Cola.
&ldquo;Buffett bought his stake in KO back in 1988,&rdquo; he reminds us. &ldquo;That original $1.3 billion investment is now worth almost $25 billion!&rdquo; The share price has appreciated 2,193%.
Here&rsquo;s the thing: KO was not a value stock in 1988. It was trading for 16 times earnings &mdash; actually more expensive than the S&amp;P 500, which was about 14X earnings at the time.
Today, KO trades for about 25X earnings &mdash; a 56% increase in the valuation. But that drove only a small part of the returns.
&ldquo;The real driver was the earnings!&rdquo; says Enrique. &ldquo;Over the period, they&rsquo;ve gone up almost 2,400% and powered the stock price higher.
&ldquo;If the stock hadn&rsquo;t grown earnings like it has, I don&rsquo;t think it would have done very well for Buffett and other investors. It wasn&rsquo;t the valuation that made KO a fantastic stock &mdash; it was the EARNINGS GROWTH.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;Earnings growth is the one single metric that always works,&rdquo; Enrique concludes.
&ldquo;If you find a company that&rsquo;s going to grow EPS from $1 to $10, then that stock is going up. It&rsquo;s that simple!&rdquo; Maybe not right away, and maybe not by a lot. &ldquo;But I guarantee you the stock is going higher.&rdquo;
With that in mind, what does he like right now? &ldquo;In my trading strategies, I look for stocks with solid growth that have stumbled &mdash; names such as Meta Platforms (META) and Nvidia (NVDA). This presents a greater chance that they will rally.
&ldquo;In my investing strategies, I look to identify stocks with huge growth &mdash; think Talen Energy (TLN) and Cava Group (CAVA). Find those, and you can find stocks that are 20-baggers like KO.&rdquo;
<a id="3"></a>If you&rsquo;d like more insights like these, we encourage you to sign up for our new Truth &amp; Trends e-letter where Enrique and chart hound Greg Guenthner will up your trading game every weekday. <a href="https://signups.dailyreckoning.com/2360104">Sign up here and look for new issues Monday&ndash;Friday at 8:00 a.m. Eastern.</a>
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3_2x-new.png 2x" alt="3" width="37" />Dollar Demolition Summit This Week
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Lost in the noise of the election and the Ukraine/Israel wars is this &mdash; &ldquo;the rise of the new BRICS currency and its potential role in the global monetary system,&rdquo; says Paradigm macro maven Jim Rickards.
Tomorrow, leaders of the BRICS nations gather for their annual summit in Kazan, Russia. The core five members of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will be joined by last year&rsquo;s additions &mdash; Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia and Egypt.
&ldquo;This meeting will include announcements moving the BRICS currency plans forward in material ways,&rdquo; Jim tells us. &ldquo;Members will announce significant progress in building out secure payment channels and admitting new members, which will drive the group closer to the critical mass needed to launch a currency union.
&ldquo;A new BRICS currency is coming soon in the role of a payment currency. This could be a big deal as it will mean the U.S. dollar will have a reduced role in total global payments. However, it will take longer for the BRIC to become a threat as a reserve currency as it takes time to build out the infrastructure needed to support it.
&ldquo;But a linkage of the new BRICS currency to gold could accelerate that process. Members of the BRICS currency union could use a surplus of the new currency to buy gold bullion to hold in their reserves. When needed for purchases or settlements, gold could be easily sold in the BRICS currency.
&ldquo;The common thread in these and other solutions is that they hinder U.S. dollar transactions. That&rsquo;s the point. And that is why central banks of many BRICS members have been buying so much gold in recent months.&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> That said, the leader of the host nation is trying to tamp down expectations.
On Friday, Russian president Vladimir Putin met with media from BRICS member nations. &ldquo;At this point of time,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;it [a BRICS currency] is a long term prospect. It is not under consideration.
&ldquo;BRICS will be cautious and act gradually, move slowly. The time has not come yet.&rdquo;
What is on the table, he said, are more intermediate steps. As reported by The Economic Times in India, &ldquo;Putin said these countries should focus on the use of the national currencies, new financial instruments and the creation of an analogue of SWIFT.&rdquo;
SWIFT is the international messaging system that greases the gears of global payments. It&rsquo;s based in Brussels, but Washington ultimately calls the shots. Many Russian financial institutions were shut out of SWIFT after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
While Russia has withstood Western sanctions far better than Western leaders anticipated, Moscow nonetheless wants to spin up a SWIFT alternative sooner rather than later. China and Iran would likely be on board with such a scheme.
&ldquo;When leaders of the BRICS agglomeration meet this week,&rdquo; sums up The Economic Times, &ldquo;the dominant theme would be how to ringfence themselves from the financial missiles the West fires to settle political scores.&rdquo;
More to come as the week goes on&hellip;
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4_2x-new.png 2x" alt="4" width="37" />Bitcoin Breakout
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;It looks like Bitcoin is edging toward a major breakout,&rdquo; says Paradigm chart hound Greg Guenthner.
&ldquo;It started firming up late Sunday, holding above $69K. This is just below the last true attempt at a $70K break in May/June. Other cryptos were also starting to move as we wrapped up the weekend. Ethereum is dangerously close to breaking out of an inverse head and shoulders. Smaller cryptos are up and running.
&ldquo;Is this the beginning of a bigger breakout in the making &mdash; and the next leg of a Bitcoin run to 100K? I think this might be the case.&rdquo;
Yes, the flagship crypto has pulled back below $67,000 for the moment. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t discount a shakeout or two before Bitcoin actually decides to activate its booster rockets and extend into the $70K range &mdash; and beyond,&rdquo; Greg says.
Here&rsquo;s how he drew it on a chart Friday&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/CQveA1zID0j66tHJVjEuq/b3dc731811a7d2ede4a217cf5cdad264/BTC.png" alt="bitcoin" width="540px" />
&ldquo;If and when Bitcoin does extend higher, $100K is a downright reasonable price target for late December into early 2025.&rdquo; You heard it here first.
Then again, maybe you just rely on the &ldquo;McRib&rdquo; indicator? The wags at the TradingView site posted the following&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/6w7mk7U1g8O70zxXBlaVs9/5b781804a579b4914a0985103bfd961c/Bitcoin-Dollar.png" alt="bitcoin/USD" width="540px" />
It&rsquo;s at this moment we&rsquo;ll remind you correlation does not equal causation&hellip;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />As for more conventional markets, stocks and bonds are both pulling back to start the week.
At last check the S&amp;P 500 is down nearly two-thirds of a percent from Friday&rsquo;s record close of 5,864. Meanwhile, falling bond prices translate to higher yields; the yield on a 10-year Treasury note is up to 4.16%, the highest since late July.
Crude has pushed a buck higher, back over $70. Precious metals tried to start the week extending Friday&rsquo;s rally&hellip; but at last check gold is little changed from the end of last week at $2,722. Likewise for silver at $33.69.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5_2x-new.png 2x" alt="5" width="37" />You Spoke, We Listened
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> After we reopened the &ldquo;long boring videos&rdquo; can of worms last Thursday, we got a flood of feedback&hellip;
&ldquo;The videos that you send out for something new are too long. Most of us know the backgrounds of the people involved and we don&rsquo;t like to hear stuff repeated over and over. So if you could allow a short and long version or give the ability to skip some things, that would be great. Also, sometimes we get interrupted and ultimately have to restart from the beginning.&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;Stop the long-a$$ sales videos! Ugh!&rdquo; says one of our longtimers &ldquo;It&rsquo;s like trying to get attachment through Stockholm syndrome with hours of captivity!
&ldquo;I agree with the reader who commented on your own piece about the torrential flow of information. I research/read 10 hours per day about investing ideas. I just ignore the videos. Simply no time.&rdquo;
Adds a third: &ldquo;I am a sales guy and get the &lsquo;tell to sell&rsquo; &mdash; however I am an old guy who likes to read. How about a transcript of the videos I can print out and stuff in my briefcase and read whenever I want? Still long form.
&ldquo;And yes, I just spent an eternity watching Rickards&rsquo; long &lsquo;live from the gold mine&rsquo; video and yes, he extracted another two grand from me, but I think it will be worth it!&rdquo;
Dave responds: In case you missed it during <a href="https://concierge.paradigmpressgroup.com/post/paradigms-new-shift">our weekly Paradigm Press Concierge email</a> today&hellip; we are implementing several changes after our executive publisher Matt Insley solicited reader feedback last week.
We&rsquo;re already paring back the number of emails we&rsquo;re sending. And over the next week, we&rsquo;ll offer a transcript option with all of our sales presentations.
As I said on Thursday, we&rsquo;re always going to have something to sell because that&rsquo;s <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/who-we-are-and-what-were-all-about">the nature of our business model</a>. But your feedback is being heard.
Sometimes less is more: Our fervent hope is that measures like fewer emails will translate to greater customer loyalty. That&rsquo;s a win-win all around&hellip;
Best regards,
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/signatures/dave-gonigam.png" alt="Dave Gonigam" width="250px" align="left" />
Dave Gonigam Managing editor, Paradigm Pressroom's 5 Bullets

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“Earnings season is the most interesting time of year.

What Really Matters This Earnings Season

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1_2x-new.png 2x" alt="1" width="37" />From Bonds to Bars
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Gold's star is rising as a potential safe-haven replacement for Treasury bonds in investors' portfolios, according to a recent Bank of America note. 
The precious metal has been on a remarkable run, surging over 30% this year and reaching $2,707 an ounce on Thursday.
Several factors have fueled gold's ascent: <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/this-is-no-ordinary-gold-rally">central bank purchases,</a> falling interest rates and emerging interest from U.S. retail investors.
(Even Costco shoppers, as we&rsquo;ve mentioned from time to time, are getting in on the action, <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/costco-gold-and-biden-bucks">snapping up gold bars</a> alongside their two-liter bottles of olive oil.)
Now, Bank of America commodity strategist Michael Widmer suggests that mounting concerns over U.S. debt levels could be a key driver of gold's price surge.
With the presidential election just 18 days away, neither candidate seems to have a solid plan to address the nation's ballooning debt.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> And it's not just Uncle Sam who's swimming in a sea of red&hellip; 
Widmer notes: &ldquo;Spending commitments are likely to rise, as countries adapt to and tackle climate change, demographics become more challenging and defense spending likely goes up too.&rdquo;
[More on tackling climate change in a moment.]
This global borrowing binge could make investors wary of sovereign debt, including Treasury bonds, potentially boosting gold's appeal.
&ldquo;With lingering concerns over U.S. funding needs and their impact on the U.S. Treasury market, the yellow metal may become the ultimate perceived safe-haven asset,&rdquo; says Widmer.
He's sticking to his guns with a $3,000 price target for gold. (As we mentioned yesterday, in January, Paradigm&rsquo;s own Zach Scheidt predicted $3,000 gold by the end of 2024.)
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Comparing gold and Treasury bonds reveals some interesting contrasts. While Treasury bonds offer guaranteed returns and TIPS provide built-in inflation protection, gold's allure lies in its potential as a hedge against currency devaluation and economic uncertainty.
In one sense, gold's storage complexity can be a drawback. On the other hand? Well, it&rsquo;s worth repeating: &ldquo;Gold is a physical non-digital asset that cannot be stolen, frozen or seized provided it is in safe storage,&rdquo; says Paradigm&rsquo;s macro expert Jim Rickards.
Plus, gold&rsquo;s performance during times of crisis is impressive. Following the 2008 financial meltdown, for instance, gold prices skyrocketed nearly 24% in 2009 alone.
And since the current (unconventional) gold bull market started two years ago? Gold is up 66% as of Oct. 24, 2022. At the same time&hellip;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;Recession signs are real and growing worse,&rdquo; Jim says, including tight credit conditions and yo-yoing jobless claims.
&ldquo;The world is searching for a safe haven away from government-induced inflation (fiscal policy) or central bank-induced inflation (monetary policy),&rdquo; he adds.
&ldquo;Treasury notes and gold are both high-quality assets that compete for investor allocations,&rdquo; Jim says. &ldquo;Gold does not have a yield (although it can produce significant capital gains).
&ldquo;When yields on Treasuries drop, the zero yield on gold is relatively more attractive compared with the note yield, and gold prices start to rally.&rdquo;
This just in&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/7gbvK3TpamDuP0h0rmIkuD/f3b744274edeee82b41f6ca5406c0c7e/Jim-Tweet.png" alt="jim tweet" width="540px" />
&ldquo;If the yield to maturity on the 10-year Treasury note were to drop,&rdquo; &mdash; and the yield at 4.07% today is down 0.85% year-over-year &mdash; &ldquo;gold could continue its upward trend to $3,000 per ounce or much higher,&rdquo; Jim concludes.

[Note: Jim Rickards just leaked this live footage below from one of America&rsquo;s secret gold locations&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/2OhuEioclVEhFB0OIyDHk9/f921c654cb3e5f03a8141caaed6fe435/rgf-gold-mine-img.gif" alt="gold mine" width="450px" />
What Jim found inside is leading him to make a bold statement: &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t buy another ounce of gold until you see what came out of here.&rdquo;
And it&rsquo;s led to Jim green-lighting a $1 million investment that he&rsquo;ll tell you more about in <a href="https://pro.paradigm-press.info/m/2368952">this on-location report&hellip;</a>
Plus, he&rsquo;ll reveal a unique investment vehicle that can return 10X, 50X, even 100X your money in the coming years.
But this window of opportunity will not stay open for long. <a href="https://pro.paradigm-press.info/m/2368952">Click here now to see what Jim Rickards found in this secret location.</a>]

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2_2x-new.png 2x" alt="2" width="37" />A Resurrection: &ldquo;Three Months in the Making&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />&ldquo;The S&amp;P 500 and Papa Dow are grinding toward their highest weekly closes in history,&rdquo; says Paradigm&rsquo;s chart hound Greg Guenthner.
In fact, taking a look at our screens, the S&amp;P 500 has gained 0.30% to 5,860 while the Big Board sits at 43,240.
&ldquo;Participation beneath the surface is expanding. And speculative areas of the market are heating up,&rdquo; Greg continues. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s classic bull market behavior. In fact, a market melt-up could be in the works.&rdquo;
About that Nasdaq sell-off earlier this week: &ldquo;I think we can all agree the Nasdaq was due for a breather,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Remember, price doesn&rsquo;t move in a straight line. It expands and contracts through a series of rallies and corrections.
&ldquo;Perhaps the correction will last a few days or even a few weeks. Both would be fine as the uptrend remains intact, and the rest of the market screams buy.&rdquo;
The Nasdaq today? Up 0.60% to 18,480.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;It feels like a lifetime since the small-cap Russell 2000 jumped more than 10% in just five trading days,&rdquo; Greg notes.
&ldquo;But everything changed this week as we were treated to <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/a-small-caps-resurrection">a breakout nearly three months in the making&hellip;</a>
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/6ns4zvaExHiiJwKsUWb4GK/795843de83fd73a58beba87c9df9f970/Russell2000.png" alt="Russell 2000" width="540px" />
&ldquo;The Russell 2000&rdquo; &mdash; represented by the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) &mdash; &ldquo;just posted its highest close since 2021,&rdquo; Greg says.
&ldquo;Are you paying attention yet? Small caps are breaking out into thin air just as we&rsquo;re entering melt-up season.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a rough ride,&rdquo; says Greg. &ldquo;But I have a feeling an extended move higher will reward patient traders into 2025.&rdquo;
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3_2x-new.png 2x" alt="3" width="37" />Here Come Rolling Blackouts?
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />The Supreme Court's recent decision to allow the EPA's new emissions limits for power plants has sparked concern about the potential strain on the U.S. electrical grid.
The ruling, which rebuffs businesses and Republican-led states, gives Team Biden a green light to enforce stringent regulations on an industry allegedly responsible for a quarter of the country's greenhouse gas emissions.
Critics argue these new rules could force power plants to close prematurely, potentially threatening the reliability of the electrical grid &mdash; at a time when demand is surging due to AI, data centers and electric vehicles.
The Edison Electric Institute, representing investor-owned utilities, expressed disappointment with the Supreme Court&rsquo;s decision&hellip;
<ul>
<li>&ldquo;While EEI's member electric companies are investing in <a href="https://5minforecast.com/2023/05/25/natural-gas-gets-blacklisted/">carbon capture</a> and storage and are excited by its potential, the current reality is that this technology has yet to be adequately demonstrated as required by the Clean Air Act.&rdquo;</li>
</ul>
On the other hand, environmentalists are celebrating. Meredith Hankins, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, calls SCOTUS&rsquo; decision &ldquo;a victory for common sense.&rdquo;
She brushes off &ldquo;power producers&rdquo; who &ldquo;don't need immediate relief from modest standards that kick in eight years from now, and states have plenty of time to begin their planning process."
Well&hellip; 
Serious questions remain about how the power industry will adapt to new regulations. And whether the electrical grid can withstand the potential closures of fossil fuel plants while simultaneously meeting increasing energy demands.
Yeah&hellip; <a href="https://5minforecast.com/2023/02/13/americas-third-world-electric-grid/">South African-level load shedding, anyone?</a>
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4_2x-new.png 2x" alt="4" width="37" />Not Just for Celebrities Anymore
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />&ldquo;Klarna's digital companion promises to revolutionize shopping, bringing the personal shopper experience to the masses,&rdquo; says Paradigm&rsquo;s AI expert James Altucher.
Developed with OpenAI, this chat-based tool helps users search products, compare options and receive tailored recommendations. It can discuss style preferences and even assist in gift-finding.
David Fock, Klarna's chief product officer, says: &ldquo;For decades, the tech industry assumed that the online shopping experience was tied up by a small number of massive tech players, which led to underinvestment.
&ldquo;That's created an opportunity for companies like Klarna, and we are enlisting AI to challenge the incumbents,&rdquo; he says.
Other e-commerce giants, including Amazon with Rufus AI, are developing similar technologies to offer expert advice and personalized recommendations 24/7.
For retailers, these AI tools can increase sales, follow up on abandoned carts and gather customer insights while enhancing customer loyalty and engagement.
&ldquo;For investors exploring retail opportunities, the key will be identifying companies that not only adopt this technology but innovate with it,&rdquo; James adds.
&ldquo;The real winners will be those who use AI to create truly personalized, engaging shopping experiences.&rdquo; Stay tuned for the best ways to capitalize on this AI-retail trend&hellip;
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5_2x-new.png 2x" alt="5" width="37" />A Wick-ed Bad Design Blunder
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Ah, Bath &amp; Body Works &mdash; mall mainstay and purveyor of scented soaps, lotions and candles &mdash; has stirred a commotion just in time for the holiday-shopping season. 
&ldquo;Every year, the retailer rolls out its collection of holiday-scented candles that amount to nearly 40% of its annual sales,&rdquo; says CNN.
But their latest offering, the &ldquo;Snowed In&rdquo; candle, missed the mark badly on winter whimsy and landed squarely in Klan territory&hellip;

<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/340rwQhqEW9O4HXUW5g6FX/87b805e7574a09a59d1bc803546b1d6d/candle.png" alt="candle" width="300px" />

Source: Bath &amp; Body Works Inc. Who knew a paper snowflake could cause such a kerfuffle?
Social media sleuths quickly pointed out the uncanny resemblance to certain pointy-headed hate mongers. Cue the birth of catchy monikers like &ldquo;klandle&rdquo; and &ldquo;Klan Krismas Kandle.&rdquo;
Bath &amp; Body Works, realizing they'd stepped in a steaming pile of controversy, swiftly pulled the plug on the candle. Their apology? A masterclass in corporate hand-wringing: &ldquo;We are committed to fixing any mistakes we make &mdash; even those that are unintentional like this one.&rdquo;
But for collectors of questionable memorabilia, the &ldquo;klandle" has found a new home on sites like eBay and Mercari, where enterprising individuals are hawking it for a mere $600.
Because nothing says &ldquo;I have more money than sense&rdquo; quite like overpaying for a candle with a problematic design.
One can almost smell the PR team&rsquo;s flop sweats from here&hellip;
On that funky note, enjoy the weekend!
And for more gold goodness, check out Saturday&rsquo;s issue&hellip;
Best regards,
Emily Clancy Paradigm Pressroom&rsquo;s 5 Bullets
P.S. As for precious metals today, they&rsquo;re bounding up in spectacular fashion. Gold&rsquo;s up another $25 per ounce to $2,732.90 per ounce. At the same time, silver is on a tear &mdash; up 3.85% to a shade under $33.
Meanwhile, the price of crude is down over 1%, now below $70 for a barrel of WTI.
The crypto market, however, is getting some love. Bitcoin is up about 3% to $68,830 and Ethereum is up 2% to $2,645.

shutterstock 2229103095

Gold's star is rising as a potential safe-haven replacement for Treasury bonds in investors' portfolios, according to a recent Bank of America note. 

Gold Outshines Government IOUs

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1_2x-new.png 2x" alt="1" width="37" />They&rsquo;re Still Stacking Gold
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> The gold rally of 2022&ndash;24 has been a strange one, for sure.
By and large, everyday retail investors have missed out.
The World Gold Council tracks inflows and outflows to gold ETFs like GLD &mdash; the main vehicle through which Joe Average gets exposure to precious metals.
Only since May has investor money been flowing into the gold ETFs. Before that, money had been flowing out for three straight years &mdash; even as gold rallied from $1,800 to over $2,350.
So what drove the rally if mom-and-pops weren&rsquo;t buying?
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> We can&rsquo;t underscore this phenomenon often enough: It&rsquo;s central banks around the world that are loading up on gold and driving the price higher.
The World Gold Council also tracks gold buying and selling among central banks. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, central banks around the world steadily emptied their vaults. But in 2009, central banks became net buyers of gold.
The buying proceeded at a measured pace until 2022 &mdash; when it went off the charts. 2023&rsquo;s buying was nearly as furious. And if the buying during the first half of this year continues, 2024 will nearly equal 2023&rsquo;s levels.
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/6wVkgvm3kBkHdd72WD8V5h/2192de5756e57e18dc0693015ea3361f/FMF_5Bullets_Chart_Bars.png" alt="off the charts" width="540px" />
We also can&rsquo;t underscore the reasons behind this phenomenon often enough. The fact the buying frenzy started in 2022 was no random occurrence.
When Russia invaded Ukraine, Washington froze $300 billion in dollar-based assets held by the Central Bank of Russia. All of a sudden, supposedly &ldquo;safe&rdquo; assets like U.S. Treasuries looked very risky indeed.
Even U.S.-friendly governments are wary of Washington&rsquo;s financial jackboot: &ldquo;The international reach of U.S. sanctions makes the U.S. the economic policeman of the planet,&rdquo; said the French finance minister in 2018, &ldquo;and that is not acceptable.&rdquo;
In that context, gold serves as a unique safety valve. As Paradigm macroeconomics authority Jim Rickards keeps emphasizing, &ldquo;Gold is a physical non-digital asset that cannot be stolen, frozen or seized provided it is in safe storage.&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;Central Bankers Make Rare Comments in Favor of Bigger Gold Stash,&rdquo; says a Bloomberg headline from Monday.
The London Bullion Market Association hosted an annual confab this week in Miami. On hand are three central bankers who delivered unusually candid remarks about central bank gold accumulation.
Said an official from the Banco de Mexico: &ldquo;Given the context that we are facing right now &mdash; lower rates, your political tension, U.S. election, a lot of uncertainty &mdash; maybe the share of gold in our portfolios could be increasing as well.&rdquo;
Chimed in an executive from the Central Bank of Mongolia: &ldquo;In Mongolia&rsquo;s case, I expect that the reserves will continue to grow, and I also expect that the share of gold in our reserves will likely increase in the future.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I completely agree as well,&rdquo; said a leader of the Czech National Bank.
Maybe these central bankers didn&rsquo;t realize that reporters from Bloomberg and Reuters were in the room. Or maybe they did &mdash; and they wanted to send a subtle message that they&rsquo;ll keep loading up on gold as long as they don&rsquo;t think the &ldquo;economic policeman of the planet&rdquo; can be trusted.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Gold has held the line on $2,600 for four weeks now &mdash; a healthy consolidation after a furious run-up from $2,400 in the previous four weeks.
The fact gold is approaching record levels this morning at $2,686 despite a monster rally in the U.S. dollar is setting the table for a big year-end run.
Our Zach Scheidt&rsquo;s forecast of $3,000 gold at year-end looked fanciful in January when the Midas metal was still under $2,000 &mdash; but now that target looks totally achievable.

[Limited-time opportunity: While 99% of investors try to profit from gold using bullion, gold coins or plain-old gold ETFs&hellip; Jim Rickards is saying do NOT buy another ounce of gold... or another share of a gold ETF&hellip; <a href="https://pro.paradigm-press.info/m/2368527">until you watch this message</a>.
Jim&rsquo;s just uncovered something huge in one of America&rsquo;s most barren land masses &mdash; and it&rsquo;s prodding him to make a major update to his gold thesis starting today. <a href="https://pro.paradigm-press.info/m/2368527">Click here to see Jim&rsquo;s urgent report from the field</a>.]

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2_2x-new.png 2x" alt="2" width="37" />So Much for the Semi Sell-Off
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> The freakout over semiconductor stocks lasted exactly two days.
As you&rsquo;ll recall from yesterday&rsquo;s edition, chip stocks took a totally unwarranted dump on Tuesday when the big Dutch chipmaker ASML issued disappointing quarterly numbers and a dour outlook going into 2025.
Nearly every chip stock took a hit &mdash; even AI darling Nvidia, even though ASML&rsquo;s report acknowledged that &ldquo;there continue to be strong developments and upside potential in AI.&rdquo;
Nonetheless, the waves of fear reverberated throughout the tech sector both Tuesday and yesterday.
Well, that was then and this is now: &ldquo;Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. raised its target for 2024 revenue growth after quarterly results beat estimates,&rdquo; says Bloomberg, &ldquo;allaying concerns about global chip demand and the sustainability of an AI hardware boom.&rdquo;
Key point: TSMC is a major customer of ASML, the company that started the whole downdraft on Tuesday.
TSMC shares are up 12.6% at last check. Nvidia, meanwhile, is up 2.8% to record levels &mdash; more than erasing Tuesday&rsquo;s sell-off.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> As for the major stock averages, they&rsquo;re all up a quarter-percent or better on the day. At 5,859 the S&amp;P 500 equals its record close on Monday.
In the commodity complex, we mentioned how gold is flirting with record highs. Silver, meanwhile, is flat at $31.66. Silver just can&rsquo;t catch fire the same way as gold and neither can the gold stocks &mdash; at least right now. Crude is flat, a little over $70, after the Energy Department released the weekly inventory numbers.
Bitcoin is catching its breath after its latest runup, trading a little below $67,000. Here&rsquo;s some more Bitcoin chart porn in addition to what we shared <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/an-out-of-nowhere-crypto-rally">on Tuesday</a>&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/5hvjKhnyPk02FBshcXnNY8/3c443dffa9ce9ab35dbea457577d2738/CryptoRover.png" alt="crypto rover" width="540px" />
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3_2x-new.png 2x" alt="3" width="37" />Loose Change: Economic Numbers, SpaceX Sues
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />The big economic numbers of the day are a mixed bag&hellip;
Retail sales jumped 0.4% in September, better than expected. If you factor out auto sales (they&rsquo;re volatile month-to-month) and gasoline sales (lower prices translate to lower sales) the jump is an even stronger 0.7%.
However&hellip; over time these figures can become distorted because they don&rsquo;t factor in inflation. Once you do that, you see retail sales have oscillated in a range since early 2021 &mdash; essentially going nowhere.
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/3DCXSlfJdihvLbaC0sX9oq/42fcbcb2c0e05654f22ad218505ea92e/FMF_5Bullets_Chart_1017.png" alt="less than meets the eye" width="540px" />
Meanwhile, industrial production took a 0.3% tumble in September &mdash; and August&rsquo;s increase was revised down. All told, 77.5% of America&rsquo;s industrial capacity was in use during September &mdash; the weakest figure since January.
Some of that can be blamed on Hurricanes Helene and Milton but the fact remains that this &ldquo;capacity utilization&rdquo; figure is still mired beneath the long-term average going back to 1972.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> A follow-up <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/spacexs-excellent-timing#2">from Monday</a>: SpaceX is suing the California Coastal Commission.
That&rsquo;s the regulatory body that rejected SpaceX&rsquo;s request for more rocket launches not because of the environmental impact but because commissioners frown on some of Elon Musk&rsquo;s social media commentary.
&ldquo;Rarely has a government agency made so clear that it was exceeding its authorized mandate to punish a company for the political views and statements of its largest shareholder and CEO,&rdquo; says the company in its 284-page suit.
We think Musk is by and large <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/elon-musk-cant-win">a free-speech phony</a>&hellip; but in this instance, he&rsquo;s not wrong.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4_2x-new.png 2x" alt="4" width="37" />As if Anyone Reads the Terms of Service&hellip;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Add Uber to the list of companies hiding behind their terms of service to evade litigation.
In August we chronicled how Disney tried to block a wrongful death lawsuit involving an incident at Disney World on the grounds that several years earlier, the deceased woman&rsquo;s husband had waived his right to sue the company&hellip; when he signed up for a Disney+ streaming subscription.
In that instance, Disney realized it was a bad look and agreed to let the case proceed in court.
Now comes the story of a couple from New Jersey &mdash; Georgia and John McGinty &mdash; who were seriously injured in 2022 when their Uber ride crashed. State judges turned away the couple&rsquo;s lawsuit on the grounds that they&rsquo;d waived their rights to sue when clicking on the Uber app&rsquo;s &ldquo;confirm&rdquo; button.
According to the BBC, &ldquo;The most recent time the terms were agreed to was when their daughter, then 12, had accepted them prior to ordering a pizza on Uber Eats.&rdquo;
Wonders Mrs. McGinty, &ldquo;How would I ever remotely think that my ability to protect my constitutional rights to a trial would be waived by me ordering food?"
Because the court sided with Uber, Uber issued a statement thus: "Our Terms of Use are clear that these types of claims should be resolved in arbitration. It&rsquo;s important to highlight that the court concluded the plaintiff herself, not her daughter, agreed to Uber's Terms of Use on multiple occasions."
Ouch. Something to think about the next time you sign up for anything and encounter a wordy pop-up screen&hellip;
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5_2x-new.png 2x" alt="5" width="37" />Mailbag: Small Modular Reactors and &ldquo;Long Boring Videos&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;For what it&rsquo;s worth, small modular reactors are not as cutting edge as folks might imagine,&rdquo; a reader writes after yesterday&rsquo;s edition.
&ldquo;&lsquo;Wyoming was home to the first portable land-based nuclear power plant in the United States <a href="https://cowboystatedaily.com/2023/08/23/wyoming-had-first-us-portable-nuclear-reactor-to-keep-america-safe-from-commies/">from 1962</a>&ndash;<a href="https://cowboystatedaily.com/2023/08/23/wyoming-had-first-us-portable-nuclear-reactor-to-keep-america-safe-from-commies/">1968</a>,&rsquo; writes Cowboy State Daily. It was transported by air to Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, and built below Warren Peak near Sundance, Wyoming.
&ldquo;&lsquo;It provided 1.25 megawatts of power for three large radar domes at the now-defunct Sundance Air Force Station.&rsquo;&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;I wonder if anyone is looking at using thorium instead of uranium?&rdquo; another inquires.
&ldquo;Reference a book SuperFuel: Thorium, The Green Energy Source for the Future by Richard Martin, Palgrave MacMillan, 2012.
&ldquo;Keep up the good reporting!&rdquo;
Dave responds: Alas, our energy expert Byron King is on the road today, so I can&rsquo;t hit him up for an instant answer.
I&rsquo;m well aware thorium has its advocates &mdash; and to the best of my limited knowledge the main reason it never took off is that, well, unlike uranium it can&rsquo;t be turned into a weapon.
But that doesn&rsquo;t address the question of why it wouldn&rsquo;t be feasible now. We&rsquo;ll aim to follow up next week.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;You mentioned packetized media <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/rickards-and-altucher-agree-on-this-prediction">yesterday</a> and cited John Robb saying people &lsquo;scan torrential information flows instead of reading or watching long-form books and broadcasts to uncover new, novel or interesting information.&rsquo;
&ldquo;I agree. This would invalidate Paradigm Press's approach to the long videos to hawk a new service or to convey information. Personally, I will not watch the videos because I don't have an hour and they don't allow me to scan.
&ldquo;Paradigm Press should reconsider its approach to videos.
&ldquo;I always read your column and it takes precedence to all the others.&rdquo;
Dave: If you saw this week&rsquo;s edition of the Paradigm Press Concierge email, our executive publisher Matt Insley asked the pointed question, &ldquo;How is Paradigm Press failing you?&rdquo;
I don&rsquo;t want to steal Matt&rsquo;s thunder ahead of next week&rsquo;s Concierge Weekly&hellip; but as long as you brought it up, many of the replies were along the lines of your own critique.
We&rsquo;re already doing some small tweaks to make the experience a little less exasperating &mdash; and we&rsquo;re considering other bigger steps as well.
For the longest time, A/B testing has demonstrated that longer copy generates more sales than shorter copy: &ldquo;The more you tell, the more you sell.&rdquo; But we&rsquo;re always mindful that that can change &mdash; and maybe the onset of Robb&rsquo;s &ldquo;packetized media&rdquo; is the turning point.
And yes, we&rsquo;re always going to be selling something. As I&rsquo;ve said <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/who-we-are-and-what-were-all-about">more than once</a>, that&rsquo;s the only way we stay in business and retain our editorial independence at the same time.
Best regards,
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/signatures/dave-gonigam.png" alt="Dave Gonigam" width="250px" align="left" />
Dave Gonigam Managing editor, Paradigm Pressroom's 5 Bullets

shutterstock 72594433

The gold rally of 2022–24 has been a strange one, for sure… 

This Is No Ordinary Gold Rally 

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1_2x-new.png 2x" alt="1" width="37" /> Pennsylvania, the Pollsters&hellip; and an Altucher Election Call
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />What a difference 12 years makes.
Back in 2012, Paradigm&rsquo;s AI-and-crypto authority James Altucher penned a not-entirely facetious proposal to abolish the office of president of the United States.
&ldquo;I think the institution of the presidency has largely ruined my life and the lives of most other people,&rdquo; he said.
Despite that assessment &mdash; or maybe because of it? &mdash; James launched his own candidacy for the 2024 election cycle.
&ldquo;I went to the website for the Federal Election Commission,&rdquo; he wrote in a 2021 blog post. &ldquo;I filled out all the paperwork. It took me 10 minutes. It cost me zero money.&rdquo;
He encouraged others to do the same and set up a Facebook page where they could announce their own candidacies.
Of course, James realizes he doesn&rsquo;t stand a chance. But that&rsquo;s not the point: &ldquo;When you DO something,&rdquo; he wrote, &ldquo;it starts to form cognitive biases in your brain. For instance, I feel I have more of an obligation to have a stance on the issues or at least a stance on how to govern and lead.&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Who does James think will win? And what are the investment implications?
Let&rsquo;s step back for a brief &ldquo;meta&rdquo; message: It&rsquo;s safe to say that along with Jim Rickards, James is one of the two leading public figures at Paradigm Press.
Jim is a vocal Trump supporter. He also believes Trump will pull out a victory in an incredibly tight race. But those are two separate things: His forecast of a Trump win is the result of rigorous analysis and not wishful thinking.
James, meanwhile, has been extremely circumspect about taking a stand in the presidential race &mdash; his somewhat tongue-in-cheek candidacy notwithstanding. He grew up in an America where people kept politics and religion private.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> But when it comes to forecasting the outcome, James says: &ldquo;Trump is going to win.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I am not saying this because I am biased,&rdquo; he hastens to add. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a gambling man and if I had to bet, I would bet on Trump to win.&rdquo;
James was told by a colleague who once worked for George Soros that Soros laid down a $2 billion bet in 2016 that Hillary Clinton would defeat Trump.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to bet that much. But if I had to bet, I&rsquo;d bet Trump.&rdquo;
Among the reasons: &ldquo;Trump tends to &lsquo;under-poll.&rsquo; In 2016 and 2020 states that he lost were by much smaller margins than the polls anticipated. I am guessing people being polled are often afraid to say, &lsquo;I&rsquo;m voting for Trump.&rsquo;&rdquo;
If, as Jim Rickards and others say, the race will come down to Pennsylvania&hellip; consider that the average poll gives Harris a one-percentage-point margin there. That compares with this time four years ago when Biden had a 4.5-percentage-point edge. Oh, he ended up winning the Keystone State by 1.2%.
&ldquo;This is, again, because of the under-polling of Trump,&rdquo; says James. &ldquo;If the same holds this year (and it was true also in 2016), then Trump wins Pennsylvania by 2&ndash;3%.&rdquo;
And thus Trump wins the whole shebang.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> So&hellip; how to invest?
James has several suggestions in the current monthly issue of Altucher&rsquo;s Investment Network. Out of respect for his paying subscribers, we&rsquo;ll mention only one here &mdash; JPMorgan Chase (JPM).
The rationale is simple. &ldquo;Trump favors deregulation,&rdquo; says James. &ldquo;So a long position in JPM, the biggest bank, is a decent bet on a Trump win.&rdquo;
Yes, the irony is thick. Trump swept into office in 2016 in part because of lingering revulsion against the bank bailouts of 2008. It was deregulation under Bill Clinton that made it possible for the banks to take irresponsible risks, knowing they&rsquo;d have a taxpayer backstop.
As for JPM in particular, the bank on Dimon&rsquo;s watch did business with both the notorious fraudster Bernie Madoff and the infamous sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein. JPM admitted to five federal felonies between 2014&ndash;2020 &mdash; which is five more than the bank copped to in the preceding 100 years.
But, yes, JPM makes sense as a pick that will prosper under a Trump presidency. Come to think of it, it will probably do just fine under Harris, too; it certainly did under Biden and Obama.
Of course, JPM is a giant, well-known company. It can help you outperform the market, but it won&rsquo;t make you rich.
If that&rsquo;s what you&rsquo;re looking for, James says look no further than an overlooked corner of the stock market &mdash; one that he believes could crush every other investment going into 2025.
It has nothing to do with options, crypto, AI or anything else you might expect. <a href="https://pro.paradigm-press.info/m/2368093">(James explains at this link.)</a>
<a id="2"></a>He&rsquo;s inviting 250 bold readers to join him in a &ldquo;beta-test&rdquo; for his newest research service. It&rsquo;s a time-sensitive invitation, expiring at 9:29 a.m. EDT tomorrow just before the market opens.
Why the urgency? <a href="https://pro.paradigm-press.info/m/2368093">James explains when you click here</a>.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2_2x-new.png 2x" alt="2" width="37" />Google&rsquo;s Nuclear Foray
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Microsoft and Amazon have their nuclear deals. Now it&rsquo;s Google&rsquo;s turn.
Google spotlights the latest chapter in our ongoing chronicle of AI, its colossal demands on the power grid &mdash; and the resulting revival of nuclear power.
In the spring, Amazon signed a 10-year deal with Talen Energy to buy the power generated by the Susquehanna nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. More recently Microsoft signed a deal to buy the power from the shuttered-but-undamaged reactor at Three Mile Island, also in Pennsylvania.
Google is taking a different tack &mdash; announcing a deal this week with privately held Kairos Power to use the juice from small modular reactors that have yet to be built.
SMRs, as the name suggests, are a newer type of reactor. They can be built in a factory and shipped to wherever it&rsquo;s intended for operation. There are about a half-dozen varieties of SMR; Kairos, based in California, uses molten fluoride salt as a coolant instead of water.
The company began construction of a demonstration plant in Tennessee this summer. Google says it expects to be using its first Kairos reactor before the end of this decade, with more to come by 2035.
That&rsquo;s about the extent of what we know now; neither company is saying how much the deal is worth or where these reactors will be installed.
For as much digital ink as we&rsquo;ve spilled in these pages about AI&rsquo;s demands on the power grid &mdash; including the prospect of rolling blackouts for residential electric customers because the grid is so fragile &mdash; we haven&rsquo;t spent a lot of time talking about the investing possibilities.
That&rsquo;s because we&rsquo;ve sought to be diligent in identifying the best of breed.
Having said that, tomorrow James Altucher&rsquo;s Microcap Millionaire service will issue a recommendation that&rsquo;s ideally poised to seize on nuclear energy as the fuel for AI.
This is what we mentioned above about the &ldquo;beta-test&rdquo; of this advisory, James&rsquo; newest. And yes, we&rsquo;re serious about the cap of 250 people.
We&rsquo;ve been waiting for months to tell readers about the right move at the right time in nuclear and AI. This is it. The recommendation goes out tomorrow morning. If you want in, now&rsquo;s the time. <a href="https://pro.paradigm-press.info/m/2368093">Here&rsquo;s the link</a>.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3_2x-new.png 2x" alt="3" width="37" />Here Comes the Melt-Up
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;The fuse is now lit for a stock market melt-up,&rdquo; says Paradigm chart hound Greg Guenthner.
True, &ldquo;investors are nervous about the upcoming election, inflation data and what the Fed has up its sleeve as the new rate cut regime takes hold,&rdquo; Greg allows.
&ldquo;But under the surface, the markets are turning the page.&rdquo; The Dow and the S&amp;P keep touching record highs in recent days; at 5,826 this morning, the S&amp;P is only 30 points away from Monday&rsquo;s record close. And the Nasdaq is less than 2% from its July peak.
&ldquo;Some of the most explosive stocks and sectors are setting up for potentially powerful end-of-year runs,&rdquo; Greg says.
&ldquo;Tech stocks are on the move, along with software names and even some of the forgotten pandemic trades.&rdquo;
I&rsquo;m sure many of these names ring a bell. MicroStrategy (MSTR), Palantir (PLTR), Palo Alto Networks (PANW). These were the stocks on everyone&rsquo;s watchlist following the COVID lockdown.
Remember Datadog (DDOG)? After bottoming in the spring of 2020, it ripped 525% into its 2021 peak! Fast-forward a few years, and it feels like the market is entering a similar environment.
Palantir is printing new all-time highs and triple-digit returns (up 149%) after completing a multiyear base. MicroStrategy is slicing through resistance, up 191% year-to-date. And Palo Alto Networks is on the verge of breaking out.
&ldquo;More and more tech stocks are popping up as I scan the markets&hellip; tickers I haven&rsquo;t considered buying in years.&rdquo;
Elsewhere in the markets, precious metals continue looking stout &mdash; gold now $2,671 and silver at $31.67. Bitcoin&rsquo;s break above $67,000 continues to hold. Crude has inched its way past $70 again.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4_2x-new.png 2x" alt="4" width="37" />The Totally Nonsensical Sell-off in NVDA
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> We can&rsquo;t let today go by without taking note of the peculiar action in the markets yesterday.
&ldquo;A sell-off in chip stocks weighed on major U.S. indexes,&rdquo; says this morning&rsquo;s Wall Street Journal, &ldquo;with the S&amp;P 500 and Dow both retreating 0.8% and the Nasdaq sliding 1%.&rdquo;
Well, that&rsquo;s one way of looking at it. The other is that Mr. Market freaked out in the face of a fluke event.
The big Dutch chipmaker ASML accidentally released its quarterly earnings report a day early. It was a big disappointment &mdash; total net sales well below the consensus of Wall Street analysts. ASML shares tumbled about 16.3%.
The worrisome part of ASML&rsquo;s statement was that &ldquo;while there continue to be strong developments and upside potential in AI, other market segments are taking longer to recover.&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />There was a spillover effect in tech, even onto companies where it made no sense at all &mdash; such as Nvidia.
Nvidia is all about AI, right? And ASML&rsquo;s statement acknowledged &ldquo;strong developments and upside potential in AI.&rdquo; And still, NVDA sold off 4.5%.
&ldquo;As a trader, I love situations like these,&rdquo; wrote colleague Davis Wilson in yesterday&rsquo;s Altucher Confidential. &ldquo;A stock that I love is trading lower on news completely irrelevant to its business.&rdquo;
How irrelevant? Davis reminds us that demand for NVDA&rsquo;s Blackwell chips is &ldquo;insane,&rdquo; to use the words of CEO Jensen Huang. And that OpenAI will likely spend the bulk of its current $6.6 billion fundraising round on Nvidia chips.
As we write today, NVDA still hasn&rsquo;t recovered all of yesterday&rsquo;s losses &mdash; up 2.7% on the day. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re looking for an opportunity to get into NVDA before the company reports earnings in a few weeks,&rdquo; Davis says, &ldquo;this is a great opportunity.&rdquo;
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5_2x-new.png 2x" alt="5" width="37" />Mailbag: War Drums, &ldquo;Packetized Media&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> After our assessment of the beating war drums in the Middle East <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/spacexs-excellent-timing#3">during Monday&rsquo;s edition</a>, a reader writes&hellip;
&ldquo;In The Guns of August, Barbara Tuchman&rsquo;s history of the days leading up to the beginning of World War I, she recounts a January 1910 meeting of Great Britain&rsquo;s Field Marshal Wilson, head of the Staff College, and France&rsquo;s Gen. Foch, head of the equivalent French organization.
&ldquo;Discussing British participation in a French-German war, Wilson asks Foch, &lsquo;What is the smallest British military force that would be of any practical assistance to you?&rsquo;
&ldquo;Foch immediately answers, &lsquo;A single British soldier &mdash; and we will see to it that he is killed.&rsquo;
&ldquo;As the old French saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same.&rdquo;
Dave responds: Several keen observers have drawn parallels between the European leaders who were &ldquo;sleepwalking&rdquo; into WWI and the present moment.
The potential for miscalculation is severe &mdash; in Ukraine, in the Middle East, in Taiwan. And no one in Washington, on either side of the aisle, has a clue&hellip;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> As for the AI-generated summary of a series of breakup texts spotlighted in <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/an-out-of-nowhere-crypto-rally">yesterday&rsquo;s edition</a>, a millennial weighs in&hellip;
&ldquo;As a 30-year-old, I&rsquo;m gonna have to agree that if you think AI generating these types of messages and AI summarizing them is not the way it should be, you&rsquo;re behind the times.
&ldquo;The thing is either party can and will review the information in detail, but this will help them stay high level in their conversations and intentions.
&ldquo;Keep up the great work at the 5! It&rsquo;s my only consistent daily read of news in any form. You&rsquo;re like my AI for the news!
&ldquo;(Not AI generated, but should have been.)&rdquo;
Dave: What you say brings to mind the subject of &ldquo;packetized media&rdquo; as described in recent months by the intriguing thinker John Robb.
He described it like this in a Substack post just yesterday: &ldquo;We process information differently now. Specifically, we scan torrential information flows instead of reading or watching long-form books and broadcasts to uncover new, novel or interesting information.
&ldquo;We use pattern matching to make sense of the packets of information we find through scanning. We can do this independently (few people) or rely on popular podcasters, X accounts or YouTube personalities to pattern match for us (many people).&rdquo;
In previous articles, Robb says the rewiring of brains in this way is just as profound as it was with the advent of the printing press nearly seven centuries ago.
I feel as if I&rsquo;m adapting to this new reality better than many of my peers who have adult memories of what it was like before the internet.
But it still pains me, looking at the stack of unread books that continues to pile up&hellip;
Best regards,
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/signatures/dave-gonigam.png" alt="Dave Gonigam" width="250px" align="left" />
Dave Gonigam Managing editor, Paradigm Pressroom's 5 Bullets

5 bullets hero Businessman with ace card hidden

shutterstock 163032401

James Altucher breaks his silence on Election 2024… What are the investment implications?

Rickards and Altucher Agree on This Prediction

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1_2x-new.png 2x" alt="1" width="37" />The Next Crypto Surge (Underway Now)
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Don&rsquo;t look now, but Bitcoin sits at its highest level in nearly three months.
A sharp rally coincided with the opening of the stock market in the United States this morning. At last check, the flagship crypto is over $67,000 for the first time since late July.
Sooner or later, Bitcoin is set to burst through its March 2024 record over $73,000. Certainly that&rsquo;s the case if history is any guide.
A few weeks after that March peak came the every-four-years &ldquo;halving&rdquo; event &mdash; in which the rewards from Bitcoin mining are cut in half.
After a halving, it takes twice as much computing power to generate the same quantity of new Bitcoin. This is what&rsquo;s built into the Bitcoin algorithm to keep its supply strictly limited &mdash; unlike U.S. dollars and other fiat currencies that governments can print willy-nilly.
Typically, Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto space rally strongly in the 15&ndash;18 months after a halving.
Here&rsquo;s another way to look at this four-year cycle, recently posted on Xwitter&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/5oIjKByRaAsZ5e3MPekXkT/06dc40acfae6aeeadd1e47342477e320/Altcoin.png" alt="altcoin daily" width="540px" />
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> On Friday, Paradigm&rsquo;s top crypto analyst Chris Campbell wrote of an &ldquo;upcoming surge&rdquo; that &ldquo;could be massive, a movement that will likely catch many off guard.&rdquo;
As a senior analyst for our crypto-and-AI authority James Altucher, Chris offered several items of supporting evidence.
For starters, &ldquo;Bitcoin reserves on exchanges are hitting levels we haven&rsquo;t seen in six years, signaling that more people are holding their Bitcoin rather than selling it. Historically, when reserves drop, we often see a significant price increase.&rdquo;
Chris also points us to research showing that more people are using crypto now than were using the internet in 1997. Given what happened with internet growth after 1997, that&rsquo;s a very promising trajectory.
Oh, and returning to the aforementioned four-year cycle? What else happens every four years along with Bitcoin halvings? U.S. presidential elections. The pattern is uncanny&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/4562GxEDp6AXyILuhnuPRL/f624ab24be5f581d170a0d44c571c70c/ElectionsChart.png" alt="elections chart" width="540px" />
The surge appears to be underway this morning. And it&rsquo;s probably just the beginning.

[Editor&rsquo;s note: As attractive as crypto is looking right now, James Altucher is pounding the table about what he calls the most explosive subniche of the stock market.
In fact he&rsquo;s putting the final touches on a &ldquo;beta test&rdquo; invitation for his newest research service, specializing in these very companies that he says historically have &ldquo;thrown off some of the biggest gains you&rsquo;ve ever seen in your life.&rdquo;
But we&rsquo;re keeping a strict cap on the number of beta testers &mdash; 250. If you even think you might want in, <a href="https://pro.paradigm-press.info/m/2367677">you&rsquo;ll need to click here and act fast</a>.]

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2_2x-new.png 2x" alt="2" width="37" />A Fed Pause? Already?!
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> The Federal Reserve has no choice but to cut interest rates again next month &mdash; even if it risks rekindling the fires of inflation.
That&rsquo;s the assessment of Paradigm&rsquo;s Zach Scheidt after poring over the recent inflation and job numbers. Both came in &ldquo;hotter than expected.&rdquo;
&ldquo;A strong labor market and reigniting inflation are definitely a concern for the Fed going forward,&rdquo; Zach says. &ldquo;The Fed doesn&rsquo;t want to cut rates too quickly into a strong economy because that could reignite inflation even further.&rdquo;
But as for the chatter you might be seeing in the media? About the Fed pausing rate cuts after starting on a new rate-cutting cycle only last month? Forget it.
As Zach puts it, &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t put the cat back in the bag once it&rsquo;s out.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Of course, these numbers are cause for concern with the Fed, but generally speaking, the Fed doesn&rsquo;t like to start something and then stop immediately. It wouldn't be a good look for the Fed if they did because it would show they are out of touch with reality.
&ldquo;So for credibility's sake, I think the Fed will continue to cut by a small amount in November and December.&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Maybe that&rsquo;s what the stock market&rsquo;s been sniffing out as the major indexes hover near all-time highs.
Those indexes are taking a breather today &mdash; the S&amp;P 500 down a quarter percent to 5,844. But the momentum is still to the upside. Paradigm chart hound Greg Guenthner sees &ldquo;what is beginning to feel like an inevitable year-end melt-up.&rdquo;
To be sure, &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll get our fair share of pullbacks and gut checks&hellip; But the scales are tipping in favor of the bulls &mdash; that much is clear.&rdquo;
Once more we&rsquo;ll point out how resilient the stock market looks in spite of a rallying dollar. The U.S. dollar index (DXY) now sits over 103 &mdash; levels last seen in early August. The rebound off 100 in late September has been relentless. Any other time that might prove to be a drag on stocks &mdash; but not now.
Likewise, gold is hanging in there despite that dollar strength &mdash; the bid up $11 today to $2,660. Gold has spent all of October over $2,600 &mdash; a healthy consolidation after a furious run-up from July through September.

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3_2x-new.png 2x" alt="3" width="37" />Market Manipulations? (Oil Today)
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />If it&rsquo;s thrills-n-chills you&rsquo;re looking for in the markets today, it&rsquo;s in crude &mdash; a barrel of West Texas Intermediate down 5% on the day and about to break below $70.
Perhaps it helps that, according to The Washington Post, Israel does not plan to hit Iran&rsquo;s oil industry whenever it launches an attack on Iran sometime before U.S. Election Day.
In addition, OPEC has once more slashed its forecast for crude demand growth &mdash; both for the rest of this year and 2025.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> But it&rsquo;s hard not to look at a move like today&rsquo;s and wonder if a &ldquo;hidden hand&rdquo; is at work.
The market for oil futures has been used to mask a host of manipulations for more than three decades.
The veteran oil industry journalist Jim Norman documented these manipulations extensively in his 2008 book The Oil Card.
Modern oil futures as we know them began trading in New York in 1983 &mdash; only months after President Reagan signed National Security Decision Directive 66. Under NSDD-66, Washington began colluding with Saudi Arabia to drive down oil prices. Objective: Make Soviet oil exports dirt-cheap and bankrupt the Evil Empire.
One of the leading global oil traders in the 1970s quickly became one of the biggest players in the nascent oil futures market. Transworld Oil, controlled by John Deuss, accounted for up to 30% of NYMEX oil trade &mdash; most of it on the short side, betting prices would fall. Deuss had long-rumored ties to the CIA&hellip; and it was CIA chief William Casey who did much to implement NSDD-66.
Crude traded around $30 a barrel at the time NYMEX oil futures began trading in 1983. By the late '80s, oil was in a range between $12&ndash;22. The Berlin Wall came down in 1989.

<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/6FxhbUWY6IQeJbHnjINZ30/abcb6af28983de16ceb5f08e845d659b/BerlinWall.png" alt="berlin wall" width="540px" />

Made possible in part by cheap oil... [Photo reproduced by Wikimedia Commons user Lear 21]
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> More manipulations took place as oil climbed relentlessly during the early 2000s. 
The geopolitical objectives had shifted: High oil prices would act as a brake on Chinese economic growth. And the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 would help make it happen. The law "would eventually turn the oil futures market from mainly a zero-sum risk-hedging and price-discovery vehicle into a quasi-securities market," wrote Mr. Norman.
"The price of oil is now less dependent on the actual supply and demand for 'wet' barrels than on the huge sums of money pouring into NYMEX futures from the pension and other investment funds, tacitly enabled and encouraged by U.S. regulators. Daily oil volumes on the NYMEX now dwarf global physical oil consumption."
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Indeed, there may be as many as 100 "paper barrels" of oil trading for each barrel of the real thing.
"The volumes are far, far out of whack with any reasonable need to hedge physical supply/demand risk," Norman told your editor during a 2013 interview. "The amount of funds needed to dramatically influence crude prices would be 'chump change' compared with the sums needed in the debt and equity markets."
The motivation for today&rsquo;s plunge? It&rsquo;s tempting to speculate that the aim is a quick drop in gasoline prices ahead of Election Day, the better to benefit the Democrats.
But that seems a little too obvious, no? Besides, at $3.20 a gallon, the national average for regular unleaded is already 40 cents cheaper than it was a year ago&hellip;
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4_2x-new.png 2x" alt="4" width="37" />Power Struggle: Big Tech vs. Homeowners
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />With AI consuming ever more of the electric grid, a strange power struggle is emerging in Ohio &mdash; pitting Big Tech and state utility regulators on one side, versus the power company and consumers on the other.
The story begins in May when the state&rsquo;s big power utility &mdash; AEP Ohio &mdash; issued a proposal to the state&rsquo;s utility regulator, setting financial requirements for anyone who wanted to connect a data center to the power grid.
The terms included 10-year contracts and an agreement to pay for at least 90% of the electricity they request.
That seems like a reasonable demand considering that AEP would have to build out additional capacity to accommodate the data centers. How much? AEP says it currently has 600 megawatts set aside for data centers in central Ohio, but it&rsquo;s had inquiries from customers seeking 30 gigawatts &mdash; a staggering 50X increase.
Big Tech did not like these terms. At all. Said Amazon over the summer: &ldquo;AEP Ohio should not single out data centers as the sole cause of &mdash; or solution to &mdash; the problem of capacity constraints."
An outfit called the Data Center Coalition &mdash; made up of Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Facebook among others &mdash; was even more forceful: "If AEP Ohio&rsquo;s unprecedented proposal is adopted, Ohio will send a clear signal to the data center industry that AEP Ohio&rsquo;s territory is closed for business."
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> This month, the Data Center Coalition issued its own proposal to the regulators. 
The details are extremely hazy. Here&rsquo;s how The Columbus Dispatch tried to make sense of it: &ldquo;The settlement includes creating long-term commitments for customers that use large amounts of electricity. It also calls for a PUCO [Public Utilities Commission of Ohio] investigation to alleviate near-term system capacity constraints in central Ohio at a faster pace and lower the cost of new transmission.&rdquo;
A lot of mumbo jumbo. But AEP doesn&rsquo;t like it, nor does PUCO&rsquo;s staff. The state-appointed consumer watchdog, Ohio Consumers&rsquo; Counsel Maureen Willis, had no trouble cutting through the confusion.
&ldquo;While business growth in Ohio is a good thing,&rdquo; she says, &ldquo;residential utility consumers &mdash; who already pay exorbitant transmission costs &mdash; should not be forced to subsidize utility investment for data centers operated by multibillion-dollar companies.&rdquo;
We&rsquo;ll be watching this case closely. If the Data Center Coalition gets its way, look for similar efforts in other states &mdash; pushing demand higher, raising prices for homeowners and maybe even running the risk of planned blackouts. Stay tuned&hellip;
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5_2x-new.png 2x" alt="5" width="37" />An Encouraging Word
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;I for one thank you for your daily missives &mdash; keep it up,&rdquo; says a reader who writes in from time to time. &ldquo;Don't let those that disagree with you get the best of you.
As far as the voting argument, people can vote for whomever they want &mdash; that's their right. However, I agree with Richard Maybury and plan on NOT voting for either major party candidate. To me, voting for either one would be throwing away my vote. Out of over 330 million people in this country, those two are the best we can do?
&ldquo;Thanks again Dave. I look forward to seeing the daily FREE 5 Bullets and don't plan on canceling any of my subscriptions. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!&rdquo;
Dave: An oldie but a goodie&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/K6TDWzHAyHzzxlcOgPIAz/9cb301601ee4d04be01d4493d4a44c04/Vote.png" alt="vote" width="540px" />
Best regards,
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/signatures/dave-gonigam.png" alt="Dave Gonigam" width="250px" align="left" />
Dave Gonigam Managing editor, Paradigm Pressroom's 5 Bullets

shutterstock 2464800449

Don’t look now, but Bitcoin sits at its highest level in nearly three months.

An Out-of-Nowhere Crypto Rally

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1_2x-new.png 2x" alt="1" width="37" />On Further Consideration&hellip;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> OK, even a hardened cynic ought to be impressed with this&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/6afqVLntBmxiQQALkXd0eB/85c4c6fb2ad9f1bfdd17fdd342a10c25/elon-tweet.png" alt="elon tweet" width="540px" />
Yesterday SpaceX conducted a successful fifth test flight of its Starship at Boca Chica, Texas &mdash; and an engineering first.
&ldquo;Rather than have the booster land in the ocean, as is typical,&rdquo; reports the BBC, &ldquo;SpaceX managed to slow it from speeds in excess of 17,000 mph (27,350 km/h), guide it gently back to the launchpad and catch it in a pair of giant mechanical arms.&rdquo;
Yes, a reusable booster. That&rsquo;s a major cost savings when it comes to space exploration.
For SpaceX founder Elon Musk, the booster capture was a welcome opportunity to change the subject from the indifferent if not hostile reaction he got to his Cybercab event Thursday night.
The media was unimpressed &mdash; &ldquo;heavy on showbiz but light on business&rdquo; said The Wall Street Journal &mdash; and shares of Tesla took an 8.8% spill the next day.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> But was the Cybercab event really the dud the corporate media made it out to be?
During the 2010s, Musk would frequently put on events with far less substance &mdash; and the media oohed and aahed.
But that was before Musk&rsquo;s falling-out with the rest of the power elite. From the moment in May 2020 that he kept Tesla&rsquo;s factory in Fremont, California open in defiance of Alameda County&rsquo;s lockdown orders&hellip; nearly every new Musk reveal has gotten the media&rsquo;s side-eye.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;The We, Robot event wasn't just about unveiling new products,&rdquo; ventures Paradigm&rsquo;s tech-investing authority Ray Blanco.
Musk, says Ray, &ldquo;also painted a picture of a world transformed by autonomous technology.
&ldquo;Musk&rsquo;s vision is for a world so exciting that he wishes he could be there now. He spoke of turning parking lots into parks, of creating space in our cities. He painted a picture of an age of abundance, where AI leads to plummeting costs for products and services.
&ldquo;It's a future where the pain of transport &mdash; the hours lost to traffic, the frustration of rush hour &mdash; becomes a thing of the past.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;At the heart of this revolution is the Cybercab, a vehicle that embodies the essence of autonomous transport,&rdquo; Ray goes on.
&ldquo;With no steering wheel or pedals, it's a bold statement about the future of mobility.&rdquo;

<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/7JHjs2nrBNh24hj1EUOpE9/214ac12f88ac7ef474f3c104141bb18e/Cybercab.png" alt="cybercab" width="540px" />

The Cybercab brings new meaning to &ldquo;Look Ma, no hands!&rdquo; [Tesla photo]
&ldquo;Musk also expects it to cost under $30,000,&rdquo; Ray adds.
&ldquo;But he isn't content to wait until 2026 when the Cybercab is slated for production. He's pushing for unsupervised self-driving in Tesla's Model 3 and Y as early as next year in Texas and California.
&ldquo;It's an ambitious timeline, but one that speaks to the rapid pace of innovation in this space.&rdquo;
And it wasn&rsquo;t just the cybercab: There was also a Robovan, an autonomous vehicle carrying up to 20 people at a time&hellip; and a humanoid robot called Optimus. Costing as little as $20,000, Musk intends for Optimus to become as common as iPhones.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Yes, there will be obstacles along the way: &ldquo;Achieving unsupervised self-driving by next year is an ambitious goal that may face regulatory scrutiny,&rdquo; Ray allows. &ldquo;Competition in the autonomous vehicle and AI chip space is fierce.
<a id="2"></a>
&ldquo;Plus, Tesla's history of ambitious timelines suggests that some features may take longer to materialize than stated, something Musk hinted at himself during his presentation.
&ldquo;But I have little doubt about the direction we&rsquo;re heading in. AI is the future of transportation and beyond.&rdquo;
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2_2x-new.png 2x" alt="2" width="37" />Rocket Launches and Social Media Posts
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Speaking of Musk and his continued falling-out with the power elite&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/1O7twtq8ii3i2fHwrToQ3B/aaf0ab7824c56f47e30c7fdaede518d1/LA-Times.png" alt="LA Times" width="540px" />
&ldquo;SpaceX&rsquo;s plans to launch more rockets from the California coast were rejected by a state commission,&rdquo; reports the Los Angeles Times &mdash; &ldquo;with some officials citing Elon Musk&rsquo;s political posts on X and raising concerns about the billionaire&rsquo;s labor record at his companies.
&ldquo;The plan to increase the number of rocket blasts into space up to 50 a year was rejected by the California Coastal Commission on Thursday despite assurances from Space Force and Air Force officials that they would increase efforts to monitor the effects that rocket launches have on nearby wildlife.&rdquo;
As the name implies, the California Coastal Commission&rsquo;s remit has to do with the environmental impact of business activity. It has nothing to do with the social media posts of business owners.
The good folks at FIRE &mdash; the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression &mdash; have risen to Musk&rsquo;s defense: &ldquo;The First Amendment forbids government agencies from leveraging regulatory power to stifle protected speech,&rdquo; FIRE says in a post on X.
&ldquo;That was true when Florida&rsquo;s government punished Disney for opposing Gov. Ron DeSantis&rsquo;s education policies, it was true when a New York agency leaned on insurance companies to cut ties with the NRA because of its political advocacy and it&rsquo;s true here.
&ldquo;No matter the politics at issue, regulatory oversight isn&rsquo;t a blank check for censorship.&rdquo;
<a id="3"></a>
God bless the people at FIRE. They&rsquo;re among the very few left who put principle above politics.
In the meantime, look for SpaceX to carry out a lot more of its launches from Texas &mdash; like the one yesterday.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3_2x-new.png 2x" alt="3" width="37" />U.S. Troops as a Trip Wire
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Oil begins a new week down nearly 2%: For the moment, Mr. Market&rsquo;s attitude toward the Middle East is Wake me up when something happens.
Yesterday the Pentagon announced it will deploy a THAAD anti-missile battery to Israel &mdash; the acronym standing for &ldquo;Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense.&rdquo; CNN reports that about 100 U.S. troops will be deployed to operate the system.
The decision comes as Washington and Tel Aviv continue to coordinate plans for an Israeli attack on Iran.
On the surface, it&rsquo;s a baffling decision: &ldquo;What would be the purpose of US personnel operating an extremely expensive system which Israel already possesses, and which Iran apparently foiled in its latest retaliatory attack?&rdquo; tweets the independent journalist Max Blumenthal.
&ldquo;It seems the Biden admin is on the verge of turning U.S. troops into human shields for Israel, exploiting their presence to prevent Iran from striking near their strategically significant locations, as it seeks to limit direct U.S. involvement in the conflict.
&ldquo;American soldiers therefore become human trip wires as well, as any U.S. casualties would trigger calls in Washington for an all-out U.S. war on Iran. And that is precisely what [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu has been angling for since he returned to the PM&rsquo;s office 15 years ago.&rdquo;
Or are U.S. casualties the aim for Washington as well?
Says Daniel McAdams at the Ron Paul Institute: &ldquo;It appears certain that President Biden and his neocon-dominated foreign policy team are setting up U.S. military members to be killed in Israel to manufacture consent for a full-on U.S. war against all of Israel's enemies in the region.&rdquo;
But none of that is priced into a barrel of West Texas intermediate this morning &mdash; down $1.69 to $73.87.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4_2x-new.png 2x" alt="4" width="37" />Economic Numbers: Just So Much Background Noise
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />For the next few months, major economic numbers like inflation and unemployment will matter less to the stock market than before.
That&rsquo;s the assessment of Enrique Abeyta &mdash; former hedge fund bigwig and the newest member of the Paradigm team.
&ldquo;For the last two or three years,&rdquo; Enrique writes in our new Truth &amp; Trends e-letter, &ldquo;macroeconomic data has driven volatility and the direction of the stock market overall.&rdquo;
But a funny thing happened last Thursday with a &ldquo;hotter than expected&rdquo; inflation number. &ldquo;The S&amp;P 500 fell 0.21% while the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.05%.
&ldquo;There may have been a few market-moving reports in the last six months, but the price volatility of the stock market around these reports has been dying down this year.&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Here&rsquo;s the thing: &ldquo;This is completely normal,&rdquo; says Enrique.
&ldquo;The stock market and economy go through periods where macroeconomic data plays a major role in the outcome. This is the exception, though, and not the rule.&rdquo;
The bulk of the time, Enrique says what matters is good ol&rsquo; prices and earnings.
One of his favorite sayings is that PRICE = TRUTH. &ldquo;There are well-defined technical setups that can make you money with in any type of market,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;When the market isn&rsquo;t being thrown around by macroeconomic data, then they work even better. I believe we&rsquo;re entering that kind of bull market/melt-up period right now.&rdquo;
As for earnings, we&rsquo;re entering earnings season right now: &ldquo;If companies continue to increase earnings, beat expectations and raise estimates, then the stock market will go higher.
Maybe by a lot, or maybe only a little. Maybe now, or maybe later. But if earnings go up, the market will go higher.&rdquo;
Enrique&rsquo;s conclusion: &ldquo;If we are entering a period when macroeconomic data is less important, then it will also be good for fundamental strategies based on earnings.
&ldquo;You can focus on finding companies growing and beating numbers. And stop worrying about a 0.01% &lsquo;miss&rsquo; on an inflation or GDP number.&rdquo;
Not that we&rsquo;ll ignore the numbers in this space. Just know that going forward they&rsquo;ll matter less to the market&rsquo;s day-to-day action&hellip;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />As for today&rsquo;s action, it&rsquo;s all green for the major U.S. indexes. The Dow and S&amp;P 500 are powering still higher into record territory&hellip; while at 18,480 the Nasdaq is less than 1% away from reclaiming its July 10 record close.
Precious metals are losing ground &mdash; but gold is still well above $2,600 and silver&rsquo;s holding the line on $31. Bitcoin is about to break through the $66,000 barrier for the first time this month.
Yes, the markets are open on Columbus Day. This is one of only two days a year that the stock market is open while many banks and all post offices are closed. The other is Veterans Day next month.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5_2x-new.png 2x" alt="5" width="37" />Breaking up Is Hard to Do, AI Edition
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />The future of breakups is here and it looks like this&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/UlPMeXSdNWNUWatLf8Yt7/43d69781bf189e730741e49d0afb8aae/MB.png" alt="MB" width="540px" />
That&rsquo;s an AI-generated summary of text messages sent last week by the girlfriend &mdash; well, ex-girlfriend &mdash; of a New York-based software developer named Nick Spreen.
Spreen has been running a beta version of iOS on his iPhone in recent weeks &mdash; featuring a souped-up version of Apple Intelligence that will soon be part of iOS 18.1. (For us non-beta testers, the current version is 18.0.1.)
In the new release, the AI assistant will helpfully summarize a string of texts for you &mdash; even if the texts have to do with something as sensitive as breaking off a relationship.
Spreen posted the screengrab on his X account. Asked if it was real, he confirmed it was. And it happened on his birthday, no less.
"I do feel like it added a level of distance to it that wasn&rsquo;t a bad thing," Spreen says in an interview with Ars Technica. "Maybe a bit like a personal assistant who stays professional and has your back even in the most awful situations.&rdquo;
Then he added: &ldquo;But yeah, more than anything it felt unreal and dystopian."
Ars Technica writer Benj Edwards speculates the day might come when you can ask an AI to compose a series of breakup texts on your behalf. (Sounds plausible if AI can already generate term papers, right?)
And then&hellip; the recipient can get an AI summary of your AI-generated breakup texts.
And it&rsquo;s at that point your editor fully embraces the late Douglas Adams&rsquo; description of <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/starting-an-ai-company-from-scratch">how those of us over age 35 approach technology&hellip;</a>
Best regards,
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/signatures/dave-gonigam.png" alt="Dave Gonigam" width="250px" align="left" />
Dave Gonigam Managing editor, Paradigm Pressroom's 5 Bullets

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OK, even a hardened cynic ought to be impressed with this…

SpaceX’s Excellent Timing 

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1_2x-new.png 2x" alt="1" width="37" />Uncle Sam&rsquo;s Unprecedented Budget Gap
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> For the record: Uncle Sam just racked up an annual budget deficit of $1.8 trillion.
As the week winds down, we have several loose ends to wrap up &mdash; none more important to your financial future than this one.
For the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, the government spent $6.75 trillion &mdash; while collecting only $4.92 trillion in revenue. That&rsquo;s according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office; final figures will come from the White House later this month.
&ldquo;Despite steady economic growth and low unemployment, annual deficits are growing again after declining from pandemic-era highs,&rdquo; says The New York Times.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> It&rsquo;s worse than the mainstream lets on. The deficit for fiscal 2024 amounts to 6.4% of America&rsquo;s annual economic output as measured by GDP.
In records going back nearly a century, there are only three times this number has been worse &mdash; World War II, the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and the 2020 pandemic.
You&rsquo;ll notice none of those conditions are present now: No WWII-scale conflict, no financial crisis, no pandemic.
&ldquo;A [nearly] $2 trillion deficit is bad news during a recession and war, but completely unprecedented during peace and prosperity,&rdquo; the Manhattan Institute&rsquo;s Brian Riedl tells The Washington Post.
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/5r9Ere3nCHsbBPteKM5Fvc/070021cd1f61c0323e2dbd5ff4bf8102/FMF_5Bullets_Chart_1011.png" alt="unprecedented" width="540px" />
As we mentioned last month, the pandemic set the federal government on a permanently higher trajectory of spending. This chart makes it obvious there&rsquo;s no going back to a pre-pandemic &ldquo;normal.&rdquo;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/1hahbVFl8Sccb7v2vMMRvg/87c0453ed1fdd25cc06ddefaad7eab7c/5_Bullets_Chart_091124.png" alt="no going back to normal" width="540px" />
Now&hellip; imagine how much worse both of these charts will look in the event of war or financial crisis or another pandemic.
(Or maybe all three, seeing as our presumed overlords at the World Economic Forum are entertaining the likelihood of a <a href="https://5minforecast.com/2023/01/17/davos-whitewashing-the-great-reset/">&ldquo;polycrisis.&rdquo;</a>)
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Still worse is this: &ldquo;Neither candidate for the nation&rsquo;s highest office has offered any hint of understanding the problem, let alone doing anything about it,&rdquo; writes Bill Bonner, the founder of Paradigm&rsquo;s parent company.
&ldquo;To the contrary, each aims to make it worse with some combination of tax cuts and spending increases&hellip;
&ldquo;In the broadest and simplest analysis... a nation should seek peace and prosperity. Then, citizens are able to pursue happiness however they choose. But to have peace and prosperity, the feds have to eschew war and inflation. Instead, America&rsquo;s elites &mdash; the people who control the government &mdash; are choosing bombs, boondoggles and B.S. on a scale never before seen in the history of man.&rdquo;
A reckoning is inevitable. Our guidance today is the same as it was <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/12-days-to-dollar-demolition-summit">yesterday</a> in anticipation of the &ldquo;dollar demolition summit&rdquo; in Russia later this month: As Jim Rickards has long recommended, a 10% gold allocation in your portfolio will cover your bases for any eventuality.
Adds Paradigm&rsquo;s recovering investment banker Sean Ring: &ldquo;While tech has provided gobsmacking returns in recent years, precious metals now offer a compelling alternative.&rdquo;
Sean just wrapped up a &ldquo;Gold Week&rdquo; at our sister e-letter, the Rude Awakening: <a href="https://rudeawakening.info">We encourage you to check out his article archive here</a>.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2_2x-new.png 2x" alt="2" width="37" />Attack on Iran: Inevitable but Not Imminent
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />The oil market ends the week on tenterhooks, as a U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran seems inevitable but not necessarily imminent.
The drip-drip-drip of hints has come all week. On Tuesday, NBC reported that Washington is considering its own airstrikes on Iran in addition to those by Tel Aviv. Yesterday, Axios reported that Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu &ldquo;moved closer to an understanding on the scope of Israel's planned retaliation against Iran.&rdquo;
That said, the Times of Israel reports that the discussions &ldquo;will continue in the days ahead.&rdquo;
How many days, no one is specifying. In case you&rsquo;re keeping count, 25 days remain before U.S. Election Day. If an attack on Iran is this year&rsquo;s &ldquo;October surprise,&rdquo; it will be the most telegraphed October surprise in decades.
In the meantime, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate is little changed from yesterday&rsquo;s close at $75.67. Since Wednesday it&rsquo;s traded both below $72 and above $78.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Meanwhile, the Dow and the S&amp;P 500 are on track to end the week at record levels. At last check the S&amp;P has crested 5,800 for the first time.
Yes, the tech-heavy Nasdaq is lagging &mdash; having gone three months without reclaiming its July record. But Paradigm&rsquo;s floor-trading veteran Alan Knuckman believes it will play catch-up soon enough.
&ldquo;The Nasdaq right now is 2% off the all-time forever highs, but it's still up 35% in the last 52 weeks,&rdquo; Alan tells readers of The Profit Wire. &ldquo;Forty times the Nasdaq has set new records in 2024 alone and it shouldn't be long for that to happen once again.&rdquo;
Big movers today include Tesla &mdash; down 8% after Elon Musk&rsquo;s big reveal of a &ldquo;Cybercab&rdquo; last night.
<blockquote>➢ If you&rsquo;re a Paradigm Mastermind Group member, keep an eye on your inbox today for follow-up coverage about the tiny company that our team believes will be key to making Musk&rsquo;s plans a reality.</blockquote>
Meanwhile, earnings season is underway with a &ldquo;beat&rdquo; by JPMorgan Chase on both revenue and profits; checking our screens, JPM is up 4.5% from yesterday&rsquo;s close.
The big economic number of the day is the producer price index. The month-to-month change was flat. But the year-over-year change is a 1.8% increase &mdash; up from 1.7% the month earlier.
Thus, inflation at the wholesale level is moving in the wrong direction. It will reach the consumer level sooner or later&hellip;
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3_2x-new.png 2x" alt="3" width="37" />Not Nearly Enough Nukes
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />It&rsquo;s not exactly a surprise, but &ldquo;the Biden administration is working on plans to bring additional decommissioned nuclear power reactors back online to help meet soaring demand for emissions-free electricity,&rdquo; says the Reuters newswire.
Plans are already underway to restart two mothballed nuclear plants &mdash; the undamaged unit at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania and the Palisades plant in Michigan.
Asked at a Reuters conference in New York whether additional plants could be restarted, White House climate adviser Ali Zaidi said, &ldquo;We&rsquo;re working on it in a very concrete way. There are two I can think of&rdquo; &mdash; although he wouldn&rsquo;t say where they are.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />But there&rsquo;s an elephant in the room. It takes years to spin up shuttered nuclear reactors &mdash; perhaps not enough time to avert rolling blackouts.
Bank of America researchers issued a report this month forecasting an explosion in demand for electricity &mdash; &ldquo;driven by the re-shoring of industry, the development of data and crypto mining centers and the electrification of buildings, transportation, and infrastructure.&rdquo;
We&rsquo;ll remind you once more of the <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/the-monster-that-ate-the-power-grid-ai#5">prodigious demands</a> that AI places on the power grid: The restarted Three Mile Island reactor will be used by only one customer &mdash; Microsoft.
The Bank of America analysts project the need for an additional 100 gigawatts of capacity by 2035 &mdash; and perhaps as much as 300 gigawatts.
The amount of juice that will be generated by these revived nuke plants? About one gigawatt each.
Bonus points: Palisades won&rsquo;t be up and running for another two years, and TMI Unit 1 won&rsquo;t be ready again until 2028.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4_2x-new.png 2x" alt="4" width="37" />Update: The Nord Stream Whodunit
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />There&rsquo;s now an eyewitness account that U.S. Navy ships were in the vicinity of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline shortly before it was sabotaged in September 2022.
As you might recall, the mainstream immediately latched onto a narrative that the attack was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin &mdash; even though there was zero incentive for him to do so. After all, Russia needed the revenue from its natural gas customers in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.
The narrative fell apart over time and by this summer, the mainstream settled on the story that it was Ukrainian saboteurs &mdash; never mind that they likely lacked the skill and materiel to pull it off.
Our own Jim Rickards stuck his neck out in January 2023 when he said President Biden ordered the attack. Days later, an article by the legendary investigative reporter Seymour Hersh corroborated that assessment.
Late last month, the Danish newspaper Politiken published an interview with John Anker Nielsen, the harbormaster at Denmark&rsquo;s Christians&oslash; Island &mdash; not far from where Nord Stream 2 runs under the Baltic Sea.
He says in the days before the attack, he noticed some ships in the distance. Their transponders had been turned off. He suspected there&rsquo;d been an accident. There was not.
&ldquo;Four or five days before the Nord Stream explosions,&rdquo; reports Politiken, &ldquo;he was with the rescue service from Christians&oslash; because there were some ships with their radios turned off. It turned out they were U.S. Navy ships. When the rescue service approached them, he was asked by the naval command to turn back.&rdquo;
No, the ironclad proof still isn&rsquo;t there. But when examining means, motive and opportunity, the most likely suspect is &mdash; well, we even ran a meme about it the week it happened&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/5u2rCHm3WNGUQiE6JJwS4g/f6b4757fe62463390b14593055ed0bdb/I-did-that.png" alt="i did that" width="450px" />
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5_2x-new.png 2x" alt="5" width="37" />Mailbag: Dems Throw the Race?
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />In light of the botched federal response to recent natural disasters, a reader writes: &ldquo;Is it possible the Democratic leadership knows they are going to lose and lose badly?
&ldquo;Just look at all the poor choices they are making &mdash; especially those they are promoting to be head of the country, plus many other things of note.
&ldquo;Why not do as much damage as possible in the time they have left, give the election to Trump and then see him and Republicans flounder trying to resolve all the complexities that were left to resolve in four short years, and when Americans see that he couldn't do it, the next election leaves the Democrats with the best chance to retake office in a big way. What's four years to a politician?&rdquo;
Dave: You&rsquo;re articulating something that sprang to my mind after the first attempt on Trump&rsquo;s life, <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/the-madness-is-just-beginning">when it seemed he might coast to an easy victory</a>.
So yeah: For all their hand-wringing about Trump&rsquo;s threat to &ldquo;our democracy,&rdquo; it&rsquo;s at least conceivable that Democrats would be content to leave him in charge of a rapidly spreading dumpster fire. Then they can &ldquo;ride to the rescue&rdquo; in 2028 and dominate both the White House and Congress &mdash; as they did for 14 years after FDR&rsquo;s election in 1932.
Maybe there&rsquo;s something to it, maybe not.
People who follow such matters more closely than I say Kamala Harris needs at least a 3 percentage-point margin in the national popular vote to overcome Trump&rsquo;s advantage in the Electoral College tally. (Biden&rsquo;s margin in 2020 was 4.5 points.)
For the moment that looks like a steep climb.
There is one compelling item of anecdotal evidence to support the Dems-have-given-up thesis: Saturday Night Live has taken to <a href="https://x.com/GrahamAllen_1/status/1842876430939492614">roasting</a> Kamala Harris.
This is the same SNL that during the Trump administration did a cringeworthy <a href="https://x.com/nbcsnl/status/1069116519207063553">chorus-line paean</a> to the Russiagate special counsel called &ldquo;All I Want for Christmas Is Mueller.&rdquo;
Go figure, huh?
Have a good weekend,
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/signatures/dave-gonigam.png" alt="Dave Gonigam" width="250px" align="left" />
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Dave Gonigam Managing editor, Paradigm Pressroom's 5 Bullets

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As the week winds down, we have several loose ends to wrap up – none more important to your financial future than this one… 

Unprecedented

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The media is ignoring it, but a global summit gets underway in 12 more days — and the future of the dollar is at the top of the agenda.

12 Days to Dollar Demolition Summit

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-1_2x-new.png 2x" alt="1" width="37" />Energy Storage in Space
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Chinese scientists have achieved a breakthrough in battery technology that could transform energy storage. 
Researchers at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics developed new organic molecules for aqueous organic flow batteries (AOFBs).
<ul>
<li>Mechanism: Aqueous organic flow batteries generate electrical current using molecules dissolved in liquids stored on opposite sides of a membrane.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>New Molecules: The Chinese team created novel naphthalene-based derivative molecules that remain stable in normal air, minimizing side reactions that degrade battery performance.</li>
</ul>
In fact, the study &ldquo;found that the battery worked for about 22 days when exposed to continuous airflow &lsquo;without obvious capacity decay,&rsquo;&rdquo; says The Cool Down (TCD).
Of course, no discussion of battery technology would be complete without taking a look underneath the hood at Tesla&hellip;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Tesla Energy reported record-breaking energy storage deployments for its Powerwall and Megapack products in the second quarter of 2024, according to Paradigm editor &mdash; and James Altucher&rsquo;s right-hand man &mdash; Chris Campbell.
Powerwall is Tesla's rechargeable lithium-ion battery designed for residential use. With a capacity of 13.5 kWh, Powerwall stores excess solar energy or grid electricity for later use, providing backup power during outages and helping homeowners optimize energy usage, ideally for cost savings.

<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/8Eou2M7D7Dgl70rMQWGHT/d98a09a3603653f9596a3332dd170f87/powerwall.png" alt="powerwall" width="540px" />

Source: Tesla.com Powerwall 3
Megapack, on the other hand, is Tesla's large-scale energy storage solution, intended for commercial applications. Each Megapack unit can store up to 3.9 MWh of energy&hellip;

<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/1TLVif0iTRieBKkt6bAoyN/9f08ddc63f9012a705bbc80c07724aed/megapack.png" alt="megapack" width="540px" />

Source: Tesla.com One Megapack unit
Meanwhile, multiple Megapacks can be combined to create energy storage installations &mdash; to be used for grid stabilization, load shedding and managing power supply and demand more efficiently.
Tesla's energy storage business? Showing massive growth potential.
Tesla expects its energy-storage revenue to outpace revenue from its automotive business this year.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;In practical terms, this means Tesla installed more battery storage systems than ever before so far in 2024,&rdquo; Chris says.
&ldquo;While Tesla Energy&rsquo;s 6.9 GWh worth of deployments in Q3 2024 are lower than Q2 2024&rsquo;s 9.4 GWh, it remains extremely impressive. It is, if any, still the highest energy deployments in the third quarter by Tesla Energy to date,&rdquo; according to Teslarati.

<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/3hmuSdsngtQCa3hYJDQAL3/0834fcb69d011de2eddfbafb470ea1b1/Tesla-energy.png" alt="tesla energy" width="540px" />

Source: X
&ldquo;Large-scale storage can help us out here on Earth, no doubt,&rdquo; says Chris.
&ldquo;Powerwall and Megapack technologies are training grounds for creating self-sufficient energy systems. (Even if nuclear power is the play, advanced storage systems are necessary.)
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;These storage solutions are crucial for managing intermittent solar power&hellip; key for Mars,&rdquo; Chris adds.
To Chris&rsquo; way of thinking, all Elon Musk's ventures are interconnected with the goal of establishing life on Mars. (And here you thought yesterday&rsquo;s <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/starting-an-ai-company-from-scratch">episode</a> was ripped from the pages of a sci-fi novel.)
The Cybertruck, for example, uses the same stainless steel as SpaceX's Starship&hellip; Designed perhaps as a prototype Mars ground vehicle? Musk said as much when he X-tweeted the Cybertruck will be the &ldquo;official truck of Mars.&rdquo;
And other Musk projects align with Mars colonization:
<ul>
<li>Starlink for interplanetary communication</li>
<li>The Boring Company for underground Martian habitats</li>
<li>Neuralink for enhancing human capabilities in space</li>
<li>Tesla robots for automated labor on Mars.</li>
</ul>
&ldquo;Once you see it, you can&rsquo;t unsee it,&rdquo; Chris says. &ldquo;All these seemingly disparate and random moves are part of [Musk&rsquo;s] master plan.
&ldquo;And there&rsquo;s one thing that&rsquo;s going to pull it all together: AI,&rdquo; Chris concludes. &ldquo;Artificial intelligence isn&rsquo;t just a trend,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s the driving force behind the most groundbreaking advancements of today.&rdquo;

And don&rsquo;t forget Musk is about to reveal another huge piece of the puzzle tomorrow at Tesla&rsquo;s AI-themed investor day event.
Of course, Musk&rsquo;s companies can&rsquo;t do it alone. Tesla might well be partnering with a small AI company. Without it, Musk&rsquo;s plans would be dead in the water.
Says James Altucher: &ldquo;If Musk mentions this stock by name tomorrow when he gives his speech in Burbank, California, shares of this AI stock could explode.&rdquo;
Of course, the time to be in position is before Musk starts name-dropping. James urges you to <a href="https://pro.paradigm-press.info/m/2366069">click here and check out this talk with his top tech analyst Ray Blanco while there&rsquo;s still time</a>.

<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-2_2x-new.png 2x" alt="2" width="37" />United States v. Google
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Yesterday, the DOJ filed a proposed remedy framework &mdash; &ldquo;asking a judge to force Google to divest parts of its business,&rdquo; according to an article at The Register.
&ldquo;Structural remedies&rdquo; in antitrust cases &ldquo;typically refers to the breaking up of a company into smaller businesses, or divestment of particular assets. In this specific case, that might mean Google's Chrome browser or its Android mobile operating system.
<ul>
<li>&ldquo;Within the proposed remedy framework, the DoJ says it is considering remedies to address four categories of harms related to Google's conduct, comprising search distribution and revenue sharing; generation and display of search results; advertising scale and monetization; and accumulation and use of data,&rdquo; The Register says.</li>
</ul>
If the DOJ pushes its case through federal court, &ldquo;it would represent arguably the biggest regulatory intervention in the history of Big Tech,&rdquo; the BBC notes.
In a blog post response, Google&rsquo;s vice president of regulatory affairs, Lee-Anne Mulholland, claims &ldquo;government overreach.&rdquo;
(Which is rich coming from the company which quietly jettisoned its &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t be evil&rdquo; motto after partnering with the DOD on <a href="https://5minforecast.com/2018/05/21/bad-70s-flashback/#220">AI-drone tech</a> Project Maven in 2018. And embarrassing itself with the <a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/ukrainflation#3">ultra-woke AI platform</a><a href="https://paradigmpressroom.com/post/ukrainflation#3"> Gemini</a> early this year.)
GOOG shares so far today are down about 2%. Taking a look at the overall stock market, the three major U.S. indexes are in the green. The Dow leads the way, up 0.70% to 42,375; at the same time, the Nasdaq and S&amp;P 500 have both gained about 0.50% to 18,270 and 5,780 respectively.
As for commodities, crude&rsquo;s pulled back about 0.50% to $73.17 for a barrel of WTI. (More on oil in a moment.) Gold, too, has pulled back about 0.10% to $2,632.30 per ounce. Silver, however, is up 0.80% to $30.85.
Peeking at crypto, Bitcoin is up 0.10% to $62,250 while Ethereum&rsquo;s up about 1% to $2,460.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-3_2x-new.png 2x" alt="3" width="37" />The Optimal &ldquo;Fear Trade&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> &ldquo;What&rsquo;s the ideal fear trade that&rsquo;s ready to blast higher over the next few weeks?&rdquo; asks Paradigm&rsquo;s chart hound Greg &ldquo;Gunner&rdquo; Guenthner.
&ldquo;Of course, the situation in the Middle East is aiding the dramatic rise in oil and energy names&hellip;
<ul>
<li>&ldquo;Goldman Sachs is now warning Brent crude could see $90-plus if Iranian oil comes off the market.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>&ldquo;Turning to WTI, buyers have stepped up every time light crude has retreated to the mid-$60 range. And thanks to the fear factor, it has enjoyed a 15% bounce off those lows.&rdquo;</li>
</ul>
&ldquo;You simply cannot buy an index fund and expect to capture any returns from the energy sector, especially since many of the most prolific &lsquo;dirty&rsquo; energy names have been purged from the indexes,&rdquo; says Gunner.
&ldquo;Case in point: XOM. The Dow booted Exxon Mobil in 2020 shortly after oil futures went negative in the midst of the pandemic crash. At the time, XOM was trading near 15-year lows.
&ldquo;Not anymore! XOM is casually hitting new all-time highs this week,&rdquo; Gunner says. &ldquo;The stock has now climbed around 300% off its 2020 lows&hellip;
<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/1LOkoKaISRcQlu3YyNXSoY/61ff335018b04e02dbd03baf8eab7fa8/Javier.png" alt="javier" width="540px" />
&ldquo;XOM also doubled its Permian Basin holdings after acquiring Pioneer Natural Resources for $60 billion last fall.
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />&ldquo;As more investors notice Exxon Mobil&rsquo;s sly breakout, money will flow upstream to the exploration and production industry,&rdquo; adds Gunner.
&ldquo;These are the companies pulling the raw material from the earth: Transocean (RIG), Occidental Petroleum (OXY), Diamondback (FANG) and Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO).
&ldquo;We could also see additional mergers and acquisitions in the sector since ESG makes it more attractive for the majors to acquire, rather than develop, acreage,&rdquo; Gunner notes:
<ul>
<li>The FTC recently approved Chevron&rsquo;s acquisition of Hess</li>
<li>Diamondback Energy closed its merger with Endeavour Energy Resources last month</li>
<li>Even midstreams are merging, with Oneok acquiring Magellan Midstream Partners last fall.</li>
</ul>
Gunner&rsquo;s takeaway: &ldquo;Once money starts pouring in &mdash; combined with a little bit of fear &mdash; we&rsquo;ll know we&rsquo;re in the thick of a strong energy bull,&rdquo; he says.
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-4_2x-new.png 2x" alt="4" width="37" />&ldquo;Deeply Undervalued Gold Miners&rdquo;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Despite gold's impressive 27.71% year-to-date gain, mining stocks have lagged behind, creating a compelling investment opportunity.
&ldquo;We believe the stage is set for a powerful advance in gold mining equities,&rdquo; says heavyweight industry analyst John Hathaway, who notes that &ldquo;precious metals mining shares are just beginning to stir.&rdquo;
This disconnect between gold prices and mining stock performance has created what Hathaway calls &ldquo;significant catch-up potential for deeply undervalued gold miners.&rdquo;
Factors supporting Hathaway&rsquo;s outlook include&hellip;
<ol>
<li>Favorable fundamentals: &ldquo;The investment fundamentals for miners have rarely been so favorable against a backdrop of such disinterest.&rdquo; For instance, Q3 2024 average gold prices are up 18.8% year-over-year, which should boost miners' earnings.</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li value="2">Underpriced gold: Many investors remain skeptical about gold's sustainability at current prices, but the mainstream financial media has underreported variables like de-dollarization and central bank buying.</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li value="3">Lack of Western participation: &ldquo;Gold's 78.92% five-year advance has occurred with almost no participation from U.S. and European investors,&rdquo; says Hathaway, suggesting significant potential for inflows when sentiment shifts.</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li value="4">Early-stage bull market: &ldquo;The current bull market for gold is embryonic,&rdquo; he adds, with classic signs like widespread skepticism and under-positioning present.</li>
</ol>
Hathaway concludes: &ldquo;Gold stocks, in our opinion, are coiling for a sharp advance during the remainder of 2024.&rdquo;
But he advises patience: &ldquo;Valuations remain exceptionally attractive [and] the upside potential that likely lies ahead may be well worth any additional wait.&rdquo;
<img src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5-new.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/bullet-5_2x-new.png 2x" alt="5" width="37" />Big Brother: Kuwait and U.K. Editions
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" />Kuwait will begin enforcing its biometric fingerprinting requirement for citizens who missed the Sept. 30 deadline. 
In fact, nearly 60,000 Kuwaitis failed to register in time, and now the government has set a final deadline of Nov. 1 for citizens to comply.
And the punishment for noncompliance is exceptionally harsh: nothing short of financial cancellation. 
&ldquo;Individuals who have not completed the biometric process are subjected to immediate account freezing and banking transaction suspension,&rdquo; Arab Times reports.

<img class="aligncenter" src="https://images.ctfassets.net/vha3zb1lo47k/2W9Ht195d07lbLdX8y8Xwo/18525d271e4154e7ab953437df6b7d16/banks.png" alt="banks" width="540px" />

Source: X
Banks are already notifying affected customers that by mid-October, their bank cards will be deactivated.
By Nov. 1? Even in-person withdrawals will be blocked. Plus, the government says it will suspend civil ID cards for non-compliant individuals.
As one might imagine, daily registrations have increased from 600 to 6,000 as people rush to comply.
On a less serious (but still intrusive) note&hellip;
<img class="infinity-bullet" src="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left.png" srcset="https://media.paradigmpressgroup.com/fmf-assets/Paradigm_Logomark_left_2x.png 2x" align="left" /> Starting Oct.1, 2024, British chicken owners &mdash; namely, backyard enthusiasts who keep 50 or fewer chickens &mdash; are now required to register their birds with the government. 
The regulation, ostensibly aimed at combating bird flu, requires the registration of even a single chicken. The process involves providing contact details and bird location to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).
And the rule extends to other domesticated birds as well &mdash; if a pet bird spends any time outdoors, &ldquo;for example to be exercised, trained or taken to bird gatherings or shows,&rdquo; according to guidance at Gov.uk.
Of course, cheeky pranksters briefly crashed the government&rsquo;s website by registering rubber chickens, roast chickens and even chicken nuggets. Well done, you! 
But the law is no joke: Bird owners who run afoul of registration could risk fines of &pound;5,000 or even being cooped up for six months in prison.
What a world&hellip;
Take care, reader. And join us again tomorrow!
Best regards,
Emily Clancy Associate editor, Paradigm Pressroom's 5 Bullets

shutterstock 360211214

According to Paradigm editor Chris Campbell, all Elon Musk's ventures are interconnected with the goal of establishing life on Mars.